Viral Nightmare
by Crossword
Summary: After the Dimensional Chip Factory mission, the rebels of 21XX are faced with two new problems a questionable new member, and a surge in virus activity.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own the EXE universe, Capcom does, yadda yadda, but I own every fan character in this story.

This is a sequel to my previous fic, The Link Between the Past and Present. I highly recommend that you read it first, otherwise you will not understand what is going on and will most likely be very confused.

Edit: Inserted scene dividers (----), because the asterisks I prefer to use like to go Houdini on me when I upload.

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Chapter 1: The Virus Man   
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_Metto Metto_

'' Eat up my pets.'' Dr. Arman said happily as he hit a command on the keyboard, sending bug pieces to the metools' feeding bowls. The metools gleefully ran over to them, and began gorging themselves. 

Arman smiled at his beloved pets. What wonderful creatures they were! They looked so cute, but they were not to be trifled with, when they weren't well fed at least.

'' What are you doing, hakase?'' a voice asked. Arman turned to find Hideki watching him. Hideki was a teenage boy who lived in the small town at the base of the mountain. He had tried to climb it on a dare, but had gotten lost and stumbled on Arman's lab. Since it was getting dark, Arman offered to let him stay overnight, and he said he would lead him back to the town once it was daylight again.

For Hideki, this whole experience was strange. He had stumbled upon some mountain hermit, who was absolutely obsessed with computer viruses. There were portraits of Metools, Killereyes, Gaias, and other virus species displayed on the walls. Also, what was a laboratory doing way out here?

'' I'm feeding my pets.'' Arman answered. '' If I don't, they'll fade away into deletion.'' He was an older man, with thin, gray hair and a stooped posture.

'' But, why viruses?'' Hideki continued. '' The grownups say that they're the reason that we have to live like this.''

'' Hmm. That may be true, but just look at them!'' Arman said, watching the Metools. One of them, having eaten its fill, had begun to march around the feeding area, proudly touting its pickaxe.

'' Viruses are fascinating creatures.'' he continued. '' There are so many different types, and they all have unique personalities and behaviors. I've dedicated my life to their study, which is why I've been called the ' Virus Man' by some.''

'' It's still weird.'' Hideki muttered.

Arman sighed at his guest's ignorance, and left the room. After he left, Hideki's eye caught something on the desk that the computer was on. 

It was a set of three photographs. The first was labeled ' Stage One', and showed several depressed looking navis sitting in a containment field. The second photo was named ' Stage Two'. There were fewer navis in it, but the ones that were in it sported various disfigurements, such as horns, spikes, or pincers. Hideki took one look at ' Stage Three', and backed away from the computer desk, wondering what the monstrosity he had seen was. 

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Tokyo's Internet City was undoubtedly the grandest in the world. Navis and Programs bustled this way and that, carrying out their duties or functions, while shoppers crowded the commercial district, which was bathed in the glow of neon advertising signs.

One tall, orange headed navi with white armor with orange stripes stood on a rooftop, watching the crush below. He turned to the security navis that had followed him. '' You are dismissed.'' he said in a clear, cultured tone.

The navis snapped a salute. '' Hai Solinar-sama!'' they said in unison, then they logged out.

Solinar waited for a few minutes, his hair blowing in the simulated breeze. Then a new, female navi logged in next to him. She had a silver headband while purple gray hair fell down her back. Her tight body suit was white, punctuated ever now and then with blue or gray stripes.

'' Hello Niichan.'' Solinar said, turning towards her.

Lunare moved closer to him. '' Why did you call me out here Brother? Why at a place like this, instead of at work?''

'' Because it is about the business my operator has been looking into. I trust you know about it as well.'' Solinar answered, brushing some of his hair out of his face.

'' Ah, that. How long will you be gone?''

'' A fortnight at most. A week at least. I hope that you will be able to handle the extra workload while I'm gone, correct? And if anyone gets suspicious of my absence, dissuade them. Tell them that my operator is sick or is visiting foreign countries to make sure that everything's running smoothly. Any decent excuse will suffice. They wouldn't dare question you.'' Solinar answered.

Lunare nodded. '' You can count on me. This will be easy compared to the aftermath of that Dimensional Chip fiasco.''

Solinar nodded in sympathy. While Lunare had taken out the mercenary Ace, whose '' brillant '' plan had resulted in the destruction of the Dimensional Chip factory at the hands of a rebel group, Mattel had caused quite a sink over the fund cancellation.

'' I wish you good fortune Niichan.'' Solinar said, logging out afterwards.

Lunare stood alone on the rooftop for a while, thinking. Her brother would certainly succeed against the unseen source... If his chosen tactic of deception and stealth worked, this whole affair would be over quite quickly. And if he didn't succeed, which was highly unlikely, she would finish the job herself if she had to. 

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Hope you like this! Reviews welcome!


	2. Chapter 2

Q&A time!

Q(jhvh777)- Are any of the original cast gonna be in this one?

A- Depends on which 'original cast', you're referring to. If you mean the one from the anime/games, read on, you may, or may not, be pleasantly surprised… If you mean the one from the previous story, which I doubt, most of them return except for Rockman, Blues, and Pyroman, who've been deleted, Saito, who was killed, and Ace, who was blown up.

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Chapter 2: Rebel Number 6?   
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Terry quietly crept down the town's central street. He wasn't in Kyotoro, but a different town. This one was farther away from HQ, more advanced, and more dangerous. Off in the darkness, he could hear the sounds of a scuffle. At best, someone was getting mugged, at worst, well, he didn't want to think about it.

He turned the collar of his leather jacket up against the cold night air. In the distance, drunken hollers and shattering glass bottles could be heard. He felt naked, weak, without a weapon.

Eventually, he got to his destination, a seedy, dimly lit bar. Inside, he could hear a rambunctious crowd. Taking a deep breath, he stepped in. 

Inside, there were several round, wooden tables, around which were clustered several rough looking people. There was a bar, with a grizzled bartender and several more burly people were sitting on barstools, sipping potent looking alcoholic drinks. There was a crowd of more rowdy people in the back, probably drunk.

Terry scanned the crowd, then spotted who he was looking for. Visibly relieved, he walked over to a table with only a single occupant, and sat down.

'' Hey Butch.''

'' So, Slate sent you to get me huh?''

'' Yeah.'' Terry said. '' You have any idea how late it is? It's almost midnight!''

'' Lost track of time I guess.'' Butch shrugged. '' Anyway, how did you get all the way out here?''

'' I walked.''

'' All the way from HQ? At this time 'a night? Geez.''

At this point, the bartender left the bar and strode over to their table. '' What da you want?'' He asked. His tone clearly said that he wouldn't take 'nothing', as an answer.

'' Uh, I'll have what he has.'' Terry said nervously, pointing to a mug next to Butch, which was halfway filled with a brown liquid.

Once the bartender left, Butch leaned forward. '' So! Until we finish our drinks, let's talk.''

Terry shrugged. '' Well, you know, not much has happened lately. Not since...''

'' Yeah. That whole mess with Saito and the factory...''

Terry looked away.

'' I'm sorry.'' Butch apologized. '' I didn't mean to bring up a sore subject.''

It had been three weeks since that faithful day that had seen the deletion of the legendary Rockman and the death of Saito Hikari, the son of Netto Hikari.

_Beep beep beep_

Terry groaned and took out his Progress PET. '' What is it Dash? I told you to be quiet. We're not welcome here.''

'' Sorry Terry, but I'm detecting additional PET signals in the vicinity.'' His navi told him.

'' Of course you are, you're picking up Butch's PET.''

'' No, another one. A third one.''

Terry quickly stuffed his PET into his pocket as the bartender came back with his drink. He took a sip, gagged, then began to pound his chest. 

'' Strong, isn't it?'' Butch said in amusement. '' A kid like you would think so at least.''

'' Hmph, I'm not a kid.'' Terry grumbled as he took his PET out again. '' You mean there's someone else in here with a...'' he began. '' What on...''

'' Is something wrong?'' Dash asked.

'' Your... eyes...''

'' What about them?''

''They're... purple...''

This was true. Dash's eyes were normally dark blue, but now they were... violet...

'' Hey, you! What are you talking to?''

Terry stuffed the PET into an inside pocket of his jacket and turned to see a huge goon towering over him.

'' That wasn't a PET, was it?'' the goon said. '' You ain't one of those goddamn rebels, are ye?''

'' Of course not!'' Terry shot back, trying to look offended at being called a rebel. While it was comforting to have Butch's brawn behind him, he really didn't want a fight to break out.

'' Leave him alone.'' a new voice said.

A second person walked up to the goon, however, he did not resemble the other bar patrons at all.

He was slender, and had blond hair and blue eyes. He wore a white shirt and a brown vest. Around his neck was a red handkerchief. He also wore blue jeans and brown shoes.

'' Who are you?'' the goon asked. The man ignored him. '' I told you, leave it.'' he said calmly.

The ignoral infuriated the goon, so his tiny brain told his massive body the attack this stranger. He charged forward, but the target stuck out a leg, tripping the goon, who went down with an impressive thud. 

The people nearest the blond man began to slowly back away, as if frightened that he might go berserk without a second's notice.

He walked calmly over to Terry and Butch's table. '' I think that we should be leaving now.'' he said.

'' I think you're right.'' Butch agreed.

Crashes and shouts began to come from the rear. A fight had broken out after all.

Before they could get sucked into it, the trio left. Once outside, the man held out his hand for a handshake. '' Hello, my name is Lloyd. You two are the rebels Terry and Butch, correct?''

'' Uh, yeah.'' Terry said, accepting the gesture. Now that he was closer, he could see that Lloyd was only two or three years older that himself.

'' Why'd you help us back there?'' Butch asked.

'' An dwai you haf a Pee-eh-Day?'' said a muffled voice from the depths of Terry's jacket.

'' Oh, whoops.'' Terry said, taking his PET out of the pocket he had stuffed it in. Then he remembered. '' Do you feel alright Dash?'' 

'' I feel fine, nothing is different.'' Dash replied.

Terry scowled, '' Maybe it's a minor glitch in your programming the changed you eye color, but I'm having Vick scan you when we get back.''

'' Hmph, if you say so...''

'' Anyway,'' Lloyd cut in. '' The reason I have a PET, and why I found you, is that I want to join your rebel group!''

'' You'll have to take that up with our leader, Slate, if that's what you want.'' Butch told him.

'' Oh! You mean Akira Iwasaki!'' Lloyd exclaimed.

'' How do you know his real name?'' Butch asked.

'' Aahh well... I've heard of him...'' Lloyd said, looking uneasy.

'' Then you would've heard the name Slate, his nickname...'' Butch said, narrowing his eyes.

'' Just drop it, it's probably no big deal.'' Terry said. '' It's after midnight, it's cold, and it's at least an hour's walk back to HQ. Let's just go.''

'' Hmph. Very well then, I'll let Slate deal with you.'' Butch said to Lloyd.

'' Thank you mister. I appreciate this deeply. I've traveled all the way from the area near Tokyo, up north, in the past few hours, and I'm very tired.'' Lloyd said, giving a curt bow.

_Yeah, well you're not the only one..._ Terry thought. But... The newly arisen problem of Dash's and this new fellow, meant that the next few days would be anything but restful. 

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Lloyd will be our '' questionable new member.'' Why is he questionable? Only I know.

And knowing how things usually seem to turn out, that 'glitch', is very important. Finally, happy Fourth of July to all fellow Americans out there!


	3. Chapter 3

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Chapter 3: The White Spear   
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Vick yawned sleepily as he inputted commands into the computer. '' Okay, begin scan...'' he sighed, pressing a red button. Silver rings began to rotate around Dash's prone figure, scanning him.

An outline of his body appeared on a small monitor with the word Dash.EXE next to it. If there was any bug or glitch in his programming, it would show up on the monitor. The next step would be to vaccinate it.

The door creaked open as Terry entered. '' How's it going?''

'' Just started.'' Vick said, taking off his glasses and rubbing his sleepy eyes. '' Did you notice anything different about him before you noticed this?''

'' No.'' Terry shook his head. '' He keeps insisting that he's fine, and he looks alright too, it's just... I was talking to him, looked away, and when I looked back he was like this.''

'' Do you think he's lying to me?'' he added.

Vick shrugged. '' Well, the navi may lie, but the scan won't. If there's anything wrong, it'll show up.''

_beep beep beep_

Vick glanced back at the monitor, the words SCAN COMPLETE were being displayed.

'' Let's see... Battle Program intact, Emotion Program intact, Thought Program... What the heck? Everything reads normal!''

'' What? But we know something's wrong.'' Terry scowled. '' Dash, do you feel alright?''

Dash opened his eyes. '' I am perfectly fine, nothing is wrong with me.'' 

Vick thought. '' I suggest that we wait. If anything else happens, we'll scan him again.''

'' I suppose. There's nothing else we can do here.'' Terry sighed, plugging out his navi.

'' Come on.'' Vick said. '' Let's go see how Lloyd is holding up in his... interrogation.''

Several rooms away, in the conference room, Slate was grilling Lloyd. '' Do you have any family members?'' he was asking when Vick and Terry entered.

'' I have a sister...'' Lloyd said, devoid of energy. He had a bored expression on his face, as if he thought that this whole process was a complete waste of time.

Seated at the table near Slate was were Butch and Karla, both of whom were exhibiting various signs of sleep deprivation.

'' And what's your navi like?'' Slate continued.

Lloyd took out a red and white PET. '' Plug in...'' he said lazily, pointing it at a monitor port.

His navi materialized in the net. He was of medium height, and had a white body suit with blue armor. His boots reached up to his knees, while his gloves reached up to his elbows. There was no visible navi symbol on his torso armor. His helmet was fairly traditional. It too was blue with a white ridge running vertically from front to rear. His eye color was gray.

'' What's his name?'' Slate asked.

'' My name is Ryn.'' the navi answered.

Slate nodded. '' How does he fight?''

In response to this, Ryn raised a hand, and a white spear appeared in it.

Without warning, Slate whipped out his PET. '' Zero, plug in!''

Zero materialized in the net, Z-Saber already in hand. He charged forward, bringing his sword down for a diagonal slash. Ryn raised his spear to block it, then neatly sidestepped.

'' What's this about!'' Lloyd demanded angrily.

'' Consider this your entrance exam.'' Slate said evenly. '' If you can hold out in a fight against Zero, I'll accept you. This is also a good way to test your operation skills and your ability to act under pressure.''

'' Fine!'' Lloyd shouted. '' Shotgun, slot in!''

Ryn's free hand morphed into a small blue buster. He fired several shots from it, but Slate was ready.

'' Wood Aura and Aura Head, double slot in!''

First, Zero was surrounded by a hazy green aura that blocked the Shotgun blasts. Next, a Megalian virus appeared before him. It glowed green, then shot its head forward like a missile, smashing into Ryn, bowling him over.

Slate was quick to press his advantage. '' Panel Shoot, slot in!''

Two chunks of the floor rose up into the air and flew towards the downed navi. Lloyd was prepared though. '' Metguard, slot in!''

A shield appeared in front of Ryn, blocking both chunks of debris.

'' Pity that chip is underrated.'' Lloyd sighed. '' Attack!''

'' Right!'' Ryn shouted. '' Matador Thrust!''

He thrust his spear forward at Zero's torso, but he managed to twist out of the way.

'' Two can play at that game!'' Zero said, the first words he had spoken all battle. His saber vanished, and a spear with a green point appeared in his hand instead. '' Triple Rod!''

'' Supervulcan, slot in!'' Lloyd shouted.

Ryn fired the golden machine gun at Zero, but he managed to block the shots with his spear.

He closed in on Ryn, and thrust his spear forward. Ryn jumped back, out of range, but then the spear's length increased, so that the tip was at his throat.

'' Soko made yo, Zero.'' Slate ordered.

'' Hai, Akira-sama.'' Zero said, backing off.

'' So, did we pass?'' Lloyd asked expectantly.

Slate plugged Zero out, then stood there looking very solemn.

'' Lloyd, Ryn.exe...'' he said at last. '' You've... passed.'' He smiled, he actually smiled! then held out his hand.

Lloyd shook it. '' Thank you sir, thank you so much. I swear that you won't regret this.''

'' Now, I'll formally introduce everyone.'' Slate said. '' You already know Terrence and Butch. I am Iwasaki Akira, Vick is over there, ( Vick gave a weak wave ) and she is Karla.''

Lloyd gave a deep bow here. '' Ah, una bella ragazza, sono fortunatissimo!''

Karla went a little pink, '' Um, what did you say?'' she asked, a little embarrassed. '' Nothing.'' Lloyd said, turning away.

'' Hmph.'' Terry muttered. '' Flirt.'' While he hadn't understood what had been said, he had at least gotten the gist.

'' What, you have a crush on someone?'' Vick asked, looking a bit more awake now.

'' N-no! O-of course not!'' Terry stammered, blushing as well. Dash sniggered from his PET. '' Shut up!'' Terry growled.

Slate ignored this little incident and continued on. '' Butch, show Lloyd to the spare bedroom, we'll brief him on the mission tomorrow.''

'' Oh! We're going on a mission?'' Lloyd asked excitedly.

'' Yeah.'' Butch said. '' But we should be getting to bed now, or we'll be too tired.''

Vick nodded. '' Yeah, I need to get back to bed, it's nearly two in the morning...''

Slate nodded, and dismissed them. 

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Soko made yo means '' That's enough.''

The bit Lloyd said was Italian for '' Ah, a beautiful girl, I am very fortunate!''

Matadors are Spanish bullfighters.

See you.


	4. Chapter 4

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Chapter 4: The New Viruses  
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At this time of night, most sensible people in Tokyo were asleep. However, many were still awake, enjoying the nightlife, scandalous as it could be. However, there was at least one sensible person still awake, and her work was most legit.

Kassandra Alva was at her desk, in her office, which was located in Technology Tower, the HQ of T-Corp. The tower, at seventeen hundred feet, was, fittingly, the tallest building in the government sector.

Currently, Kassandra was studying complex graphs and charts on her laptop. She had green eyes, and brown hair that was currently tied up in a ponytail. Her tunic was completely black, with a small, silver T sown into the collar.

_Bzzt_

'' Yes, what is it?'' she asked, continuing to study the charts.

A voice came from her desk's built in intercom. '' Yamoto Taisa is here to see you.''

'' Let him in.'' Kassandra said, closing the lid of the laptop.

The office door opened and a uniformed, 50 year old man entered. He snapped a salute. '' Good evening, Ma'am.'' Kassandra, being Amerropian, did not like to be called sama.

She decided not to remind him that it was past midnight, partially to speed this meeting along, partially to avoid embarrassing him, as being told off by someone a little less than half your age would probably do.

'' I have the report you requested ma'am.'' Yamoto continued, walking over to the desk and handing her a bulging file folder.

'' This is about those virus attacks that have been reported at various outposts throughout the country, correct?''

'' Hai. There have been new strains of viri during these attacks. Canoguards block attacks, Fishy leave flames in their wake, and Flashlites...'' Yamoto began.

'' Alright, I see.'' Kassandra cut him off. '' The important thing to do is to isolate this problem before it spreads to other countries... The source must be located, as evolved viruses don't simply pop out of the ground...''

'' What are your orders ma'am?'' Yamoto asked. '' We at Intel will do all that we can to get to the bottom of this.''

'' You will do nothing.'' Kassandra ordered, putting an edge to her voice for effect. '' My brother has already left to investigate this, and we will do nothing until we receive any sort of information from him.'' It was safe to tell him this, as Yamoto, as head of Intelligence, was already in the know.

'' If that is what you wish ma'am...'' Yamoto said, a little disappointment to his voice. '' I will dismiss myself now.'' He turned and left, taking care to close the door as he did so.

When he was gone, Kassandra sighed, undid her hair, and began running her fingers through it. As the co-head of T-Corp, along with her brother, she was the most powerful woman on the planet, but there was a large amount of work to go along with that title, and since her brother had left, the workload had only increased.

'' Are you alright Kassy?''

She placed her PET on the desk and thumbed the navi symbol, activating the touch screen, which displayed her navi. '' I'm just tired Lunare, that's all.''

'' It is after 2am Kassy. You need to get some sleep, work can wait until the morning.'' Lunare advised.

'' I suppose so. I'll look at that report a bit before bed though.'' Kassandra said, yawning.

She didn't see many people on the way back to her room, only the odd night guard, each of whom were very keen to bow, or salute, or something, most likely trying to curry favor, as she had many suitors, and what a bunch of idiots they all were!

When she reached the privacy of her room, she opened the folder and found several photographs of some of the evolved viri, along with a large volume of reports. The first photograph was of a Canoguard, except that it was blue instead of green, and it was shielding itself with the metal cannon that was normally retracted.

The next showed a teal Handy. These guys apparently dropped decoy bombs that exploded if they were hit with an attack.

A third was of a blue Beetank. According to hastily scribbled notes, there bombs stunned navis as well as damaging them.

Kassandra put the file away. It was late, very late, and she needed sleep. She would view the report in its entirety in the morning, but now, the pillow called.

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Arman's lab was even creepier at night. The viruses in the portraits seemed to glare at any passerby, and unseen machinery and apparati made strange noises in the dark.

Hideki snuck down the darkened corridor. Arman had already gone to bed, giving him a few hours to explore the place. So far, it wasn't very big, and nothing really seemed out of place.

Well, that was a lie. The whole place was weird. What was a laboratory doing in the middle of nowhere? And who exactly was this Arman-hakase?

Hideki ran into a metal door. A low humming could be heard coming from the other end. Fortunately, the door had no lock, so a simple nudge opened it.

The room beyond was fairly large and circular. In the middle was a large, dome shaped device. It was the source of the menacing hum. Thick cables ran from it to servers on one side of the wall. There was a maintenance panel on one side, but it would probably have been unwise to mess with it.

On the wall opposite the servers was a staircase, curved to fit the shape of the wall, and it had no handrails. At the top, about eight feet about the floor was an ajar door. Curious, Hideki climbed up it, and saw that there was a small office behind that door.

On the desk inside was a bunch of yellowing, dog eared papers. Hideki started to read one of them. Several words leapt out at him: ' Experiment', ' Venom', and ' Transformation.' Most of it had been blacked out by a marker, so he could only read a very small amount, but whatever Arman was doing, it couldn't be good.

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We learn who Lunare's operator is, Arman gets more sinister, and yeah…

The 'evolved' viruses are merely the v2 versions from the games, complete with any additional abilities that they gain.


	5. Chapter 5

There are EXE6 spoilers in this chapter, which manifest themselves as a character. However, this character does not spoil anything from that game, as this fic takes place in the anime continuity. The character also hasn't appeared in the anime at this time.

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Chapter 5: The Train Job   
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'' Why are we walking again?'' Lloyd groaned.

It was close to midday as the six rebels trudged across the landscape. 

Slate signed and came to a stop. '' Because we can't afford to drive everywhere. Gas is very expensive to obtain on the black market.'' 

'' Then why don't you get a hydrogen fuel cell or a hybrid...''

'' Come on!'' Butch shouted. '' We can't afford to keep stopping! If we keep this up, we'll miss the train!''

'' No.'' Slate said, holding up a hand. '' I think that our newest recruit needs to be mentally disciplined.''

He walked over to Lloyd, then asked, '' You grew up in a city, correct?'' a slight edge to his voice.

'' Yeah.'' Lloyd answered. '' San Diego, to be exact.''

'' So you're West Amerropian... Anyway, what was life like there?''

'' It was decent. Good economy, infrastructure, education...'' Lloyd began.

'' Hmph. Well, none of us grew up in cities. Life is difficult out here, because everyone out here that doesn't work for T-Corp is treated like _daiben_. All of us have had our own hardships, pray that you never do.'' He began to walk away, then stopped. '' And walking is good for you.'' he added.

'' What was that about?'' Terry asked Butch as they proceeded to walk. '' As far as I could tell, he never made a point.''

'' Slate is a bit more subtle than that.'' Butch explained. '' He was sending Lloyd the message that isn't easy for all and that he needs to grow up because life won't always be kind to him.''

'' I guess that's true.'' Terry said to himself. '' The world certainly has been rough for us.'' Saito and Rockman came to mind.

'' So, you do this every month?'' Lloyd asked, changing the subject. 

'' Yes. We walk to the train depot near here, sneak onto the recently loaded supply train, then steal several cargo containers from it.'' Vick explained.

'' But, how do you get them back to HQ?''

'' T-Corp has already taken care of that.'' Butch began. '' For ease of transport, the containers are loaded onto flatbed trucks, which are in turn loaded onto the train. We simply hijack the trucks and get outta there. After we unload the cargo, we siphon off most of the gas in the tanks, then auto program them to return to the depot, empty.'' 

'' Look, there it is!'' Karla said, pointing.

The depot was fairly large. Most of it consisted of a rail yard, though there was only on train there at the time. Next to it was an administrations building and several warehouses. Any empty land was cluttered with various machines.

'' How much time until the train is scheduled to leave?'' Slate asked his navi. '' Approximately 20 minutes, Akira-sama.'' Zero replied. 

'' Good, plenty of time.'' Slate nodded, satisfied. '' Let's go everyone.''

There were barely any guards, so they managed to reach the train. There was a little room to stand between cars, above the coupling. Slate turned to the metal door of the closest boxcar. '' Alright, let's get started on getting this door open. Then we, nani!''

The train gave a lurch and slowly started to pull away from the depot. '' What the! It's leaving early!'' Terry cried.

Slate was quick to take charge. '' Terrence, Lloyd, get to work on this one! Butch, Karla, work on the next one!''

'' What about me?'' Vick asked.

'' Come with me. I'm heading for the engine to try to shut it down. I may need Beta's analytical skills there.''

'' A pleasure.'' Vick said, it wasn't often that there was a demand for his talents.

Slate and Vick headed towards the front of the train. There was a small ledge on either side of the car, so that a person could sneak around if they were very careful. Butch and Karla did so as well, since the door to the next car was on the opposite end.

Terry turned to Lloyd. '' The train's starting to pick up speed, so let's get this done quickly.''

Lloyd nodded. '' There's a plug in port on the door control panel, let's go!''

'' Plug in! Dash.exe!''

'' Plug in! Ryn!''

TRANSMISSION! 

The two navis materialized in the cyberworld. '' There!'' Dash said, pointing at a silver orb floating in the center of the area. '' The locking program!''

'' Sigh, this won't be any fun at all...'' Ryn lamented.

'' Not so fast!'' a voice called out.

Dash went into a battle stance as a third navi appeared.

This navi was red, and mostly humanoid. Its torso was rather boxy, while its head was elongated. His face was flattish and black, with yellow eyes and no nose.

'' Who are you?'' Ryn asked, summoning his spear.

'' I am Blastman. I was assigned to protect this train, along with my partner. He's in the Engine Computer.''

'' Blastman is it?'' Dash asked. '' Well then, is your partner strong?'' 

'' He's a bit stronger than I, but not by much.'' Blastman answered. 

'' Heh. I can tell a navi's strength at a glance.'' Ryn said, grinning. '' And you're not that tough. Zero should have no trouble taking him out.''

'' You little... You don't look so tough yourself!'' Blastman spat back. 

'' Enough talking!'' Dash shouted. '' Let's just get this over with!'' 

'' Agreed.'' Blastman said. '' Flame Devil!''

His body burst into flames, then he shot a whirlwind of fire at the two navis.

Terry selected a chip on the holographic screen. '' Fujin Racket, slot in!''

Dash's right hand morphed into a racket, and with a single swing a gust of wind was released, blowing the flames away. 

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Slate plugged Zero out of the lock and opened the door to the engine. It was completely autonomous, so the only interface was a matinence panel.

Slate and Vick plugged their navis in. '' So this is the core...'' Zero muttered as he fully materialized. The cyberworld was nothing special.

'' Welllcommme...'' A new navi had appeared. He was a rather odd looking one at that. His torso was vaguely humanoid, with black armor, while it had a snakelike tail where legs would normally be. Its three fingered hands ended in sharp claws, and it had a snakelike head with liquid black eyes and a flicking forked tongue. It's entire body, save the armor, appeared to be made from blue gel.

'' I am Hyyyydromannn. Don't diiiie toooo quickllly...'' 

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Daiben is translated as feces, excrement etc.

For future reference, I'll provide a list showing real world continents and contries, and what their EXE equivalent is in this fic's universe.

North America - West Amerrope

South America – South Amerrope

Europe – East Amerrope

Russia – Sharo

China – Choina

India – Namaste

Africa – Affriku

Middle East and Central Asia – Ajina

Japan – Japan (obviously)

Australia remains the same I suppose.

All of the above names are used in either the anime or the games at some point. ( Except for the East, West, and South Amerrope. The whole thing is simply called Amerrope in the anime, not sure bout the Japanese versions of the games though.)


	6. Chapter 6

Still EXE6 spoilers, same reason.

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Chapter 6: Fire and Water   
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'' Beta, you get to work on hacking the security system, I'll take care of Hydroman.'' Zero said, summoning his saber.

Beta nodded and retreated to a safe distance.

'' Sssss... Soooo... You're the faaaamousss Zeeerooo...'' Hydroman hissed as he slithered forward.

'' I don't know about that, creature.'' Zero said, raising his saber in a defensive stance. '' But unless you want to die, I suggest that you let us pass.''

'' Of courssse I caaann't do thatt... I wouldn't beee a T-Cooorrrp naaavi otthherwissse.''

'' Well, it was worth a shot...'' Zero shrugged. '' Akira-sama, please send me some battlechips.''

'' Very well, Widesword, slot in!''

Zero's left hand morphed into a sword with a flared tip. He ran up to Hydroman, bring both blades in for a cross slash, but the two blades were stopped dead by Hydroman's gelatinous tail, then they were forcibly repelled, much to Zero's surprise. '' Nan da!'' 

Hydroman's tail than whipped up an smacked Zero in the face, making him stagger backward. It was like getting snapped in the face with a giant rubber band.

'' Hyyydrrooo Crruuushherrr!'' Hydroman shouted as a deluge poured down on Zero, leaving him wet and ticked off, but unhurt. '' Akira-sama, please send me an electric chip.''

'' Elecsword, slot in!''

Zero's Widesword morphed back into a hand, then the blue jewel on his glove glowed, and the hand morphed into a yellow blade, but what happened next was not expected at all..

'' AAAAHHHGGGG!'' Zero screamed as he was electrocuted by the blade. 

'' What happened!'' Slate demanded.

'' Hee hee...'' Hydroman snickered. '' An Elecsssword isss crackling with electricity. When you're wwwet, the currrent trrravvvallls uuup your arrrmmm aannd afffects yyyou. Ssshocking, isssn't it? Tee hee.'' 

Zero panted, still feeling pain from the shock. Hydroman's attacks didn't have much power, but that shock had been powerful, and his... unique defensive ability made him a tricky opponent.

'' Fire Blast!''

Blastman threw what looked like a miniature explosion towards Dash, who easily side stepped the slow moving blast.

'' Come on, this is pathetic!'' he taunted.

Blastman gritted his teeth. '' You won't be able to dodge my next attack, no matter what you do!''

He raised his hands to the ceiling. '' Fire Storm!''

Embers drifted up from the ground. '' ! Dash, get right next to me!'' Ryn shouted. Dash took the advice, running over to Ryn so that they were back to back. '' Dreamaura!'' Lloyd shouted as he selected the chip. 

An aura surrounded Ryn, and since Dash was so close to him, he was protected as well. Then their visions were filled with flames.

When the flames died out, the ground was scorched, but the two navis were unharmed. '' What! Curse you!'' Blastman roared in frustration.

'' Ya know, I bet you're so weak, you can't even handle a program advance.'' Terry said, smiling. '' Let's test that, Fire, Aqua, Elec, Bamboosword! Quadruple slot in!''

Dash's hand morphed into a glowing sword, and he lepta over to Blastman. '' Program Advance, Elemental Sword!''

With a single strike, Blastman's body had four slashes on it. One red, another blue, a third yellow and a fourth green.

'' D-d-darn it!'' Blastman ceased to exist.

Zero dodged a jet of water from Hydroman, then fired off a Saberwave. The energy cut through the snake like navi, who visibly winced. This gave Zero an idea. '' Akira-sama, I'd like you to send me a Variablesword.''

Slate slotted in the chip, so Zero's hand morphed into and oddly shaped green yellow sword.

'' Hah! You arrree a fooolll...'' Hydroman muttered. '' Swords do not work on mee...''

'' I beg to differ. Physical damage doesn't affect you.'' Zero explained. '' So I'm going to hit you with non kinetic damage, which _does_ work.''

'' Triple Sonicboom!'' he cried, unleashing three sonicbooms with a single swing.

'' Gyaaaaa!'' Hydroman cried as he was hit. When the explosion faded, he was gone.

_Plip Plop_

Zero looked down to see that he was standing in a puddle, which quickly rose up and formed back into Hydroman, who wrapped his coils around Zero and squeezed tightly. '' I'll, cruussh yyyouuu, puunny naaavi!'' 

'' Uhggg... Akira-sama... Send a Thunderbolt...''

'' Thunderbolt, slot in!''

Zero placed a hand on Hydroman's tail. '' Die!''

Electricity flowed from his palm into Hydroman's gel. '' Eeeeaaahhhhhgggggg!''

He dissolved into deletion, dropping Zero to the floor.

He took several gasps of air, then turned to Beta, who had finished hacking the security and was now working on the brake system.

'' How's it coming?''

'' Almost done.'' Beta promised, hitting several option on the input field he had called up. '' A little more... There! That should put a stop to the train!''

In the real world, there was a screech as the train slowly ground to a halt. Vick nodded in satisfaction and plugged his navi out, as did Slate.

'' Now, let's see if the others are alright.'' Slate said, exiting the engine and stepping onto the ground beside the train.

The other four rebels were lunging beside their cars. '' Have you unlocked them?'' Slate asked when they were within earshot.

'' Yep. It wasn't very difficult at all.''

Inside each of the two cars was a single, large, transport truck. '' Alright, we'll take these two with us back to the base. Move out!'' 

'' Why don't we take more than two?'' Lloyd asked.

'' Well, as the english expression goes, we never ' bite off more than we can chew.' '' Slate answered.

So after lowering the offload ramps, entering the trucks, and plugging their navis in, the victorious rebels drove back to HQ. 

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These last two chapters are kinda fillery, but they are important later on down the road. Next, we'll be jumping right back into the virus plot.


	7. Chapter 7

jhvh777- Nope, I got all four components of Elementalsword down correctly.

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Chapter 7: To the Stars   
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The rest of the afternoon was spent unloading the trucks and storing the cargo in the warehouse. Their Indian Summer was continuing, so the hot sun beat down on everyone. Normally, it would start to get colder around this time.

'' Alright Karla, one, two, three!'' Terry grunted as he and Karla hoisted a midsized container into the air and began to carry it towards the warehouse.

Everyone was working. Butch was unloading the crates from the truck, Vick was checking the contents, while Terry, Slate, Karla, and Lloyd were transporting them. Lloyd however, had easily done the least work, and had complained whenever he could. Clearly, he was not used to physical labor.

'' Sigh, I don't know what we're going to do with him.'' Terry sighed as they reached the warehouse and set the container down.

'' Hmm, he does appear to be rather soft. No work ethic at all.'' Slate's voice said.

Terry turned to see Slate standing about eight feet away from him, with his trademark light brown overcoat slung over his shoulder. '' Oh! I didn't see you there!''

The three of them began to walk back to the truck. '' Terrence, Vick told me about your navi.''

Terry sighed. '' I'm kinda getting tired of this... Something infected Dash, but we're waiting until something shows up.''

'' Well, let me know if anything happens.''

'' I will.''

Slate picked up the pace, leaving the other two behind.

'' He knows I prefer ' Terry'.'' Terry grumbled. Well, it was nice to see Slate acting so sociably. The Old Slate, before Saito's death, probably couldn't have cared less about the problem, as long as it didn't affect his ability to fight. Terry liked the New Slate better. 

'' I like Terry.'' Karla said, interrupting his thoughts. '' It sounds cuter.''

'' Err... thanks... I guess...'' Terry muttered, turning red. He heard snickering coming from his PET. '' Shut up you...''

When the two of them got back to the truck, they found that everyone else had clustered around its rear. Butch had pushed several crates to the edge. '' They're all marked ' Pulse Transmission System '.'' he was saying. '' Does anyone know what that means?''

'' I've heard of this before...'' Lloyd muttered. '' It was an experimental technology for sending humans into the cyberworld.'' 

'' What? That's impossible!'' Vick exclaimed.

'' But we've seen navis come into our world, so I guess anything is possible.'' Karla countered.

'' It doesn't actually send the body into cyberworld.'' Lloyd explained. '' It converts brain waves to data, and sends that. So, you 'operate', if you will, just like you do in the real world.''

'' But how do you know all of this?'' Slate asked. '' Even I have never heard of this system.''

'' Umm...'' Lloyd scratched the back of his head. '' Just something I heard a long time ago...''

'' Hmm...'' Slate muttered, casting Lloyd a suspicious glance.

'' Anyway, maybe we should take a break, for now.'' 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The six navis were in the cyberworld, chatting each other up, when they were interrupted by an unexpected guest.

_Metool Metool_

Dash glanced over his shoulder to see an odd looking Metool. Normally, Metools were yellow, with green markings, but this one was red, with blue markings.

'' How did you get in here?'' Tyria asked.

The Metool seemed to notice that it had been discovered, for it began to march away.

'' Hey! Get back here!'' Tyria shouted, morphing her hand into a buster and firing off a warning shot.

The Metool leapt in alarm and began to scurry away. Tyria fired a second shot, but this time the Metool ducked under its helmet, and the blast bounced off of it. '' Since when could they do that?'' Crushman demanded.

Meanwhile, the Metool had ran over to its... companions. Nearby was an access tunnel, and at the entrance to it was a group of other red Metools, about fifteen or so strong.

'' How did they get in here!'' Zero said, sounding mildly annoyed. '' Stop!'' he shouted. Normal Metools would have been intimidated at this shout, but these ignored him and began to enter the tunnel, as they did, they were converted to transmission waves, and they began to vanish.

Zero, wanting to find out what was going on, ran after them. Soon, he too was converted to data and vanished. '' Wait up!'' Dash shouted, jumping in after him. Crushman, Ryn, and Tyria followed as well. After they vanished, the tunnel vanished, leaving Beta alone and bewildered. '' Oh dear...''

The navis found themselves on the floor of an unfamiliar cyberworld.

'' Where are we?'' Dash asked, picking himself off of the floor.

'' I'll see if there is any video feed I can pull up.'' Tyria said, calling up a display screen. '' What the... There're some cameras to monitor... hull damage?''

She hit an option, and the screen displayed the blue curve of the planet Earth, and several stars.

'' Look at this other data: The Evening News, Daytime Soaps, Monday Night Football...'' Tyria muttered as she scrolled through a chart. '' We're in a TV satellite!''

'' Hey hey! Look at the top news story!'' said Ryn, who had pulled up his own screen. '' It says that virus attacks have been reported at various government sites. But these viruses are different then normal, like they've, evolved or something.''

'' Hmm, I've heard of viruses evolving naturally over a great period of time, but that rarely happens, since they're constantly deleted...'' Zero said, scratching his chin. '' So how could there be this many at once?''

'' Hey!'' Tyria said. '' Look at this. It's a record of the signals sent to and from the satellite. Most were sent to various TV stations, but there is a fairly large amount sent and received from an unknown source, and the last one was just now!''

'' Where was it sent to?'' Zero asked.

'' Um... A point in Densan, just a moment...'' Tyria said. '' There! An old sea port on Densan's northeast corner. It's on the water, obviously.''

'' Alright.'' Zero said. '' I'll store this data until we get back.'' He placed his palm on the view screen. His blue eyes briefly displayed the incoming data, then they returned to normal.

'' Alright. Let's log out and go tell our operators about this. I'll sure that Akira-sama will be very interested in this.''

So now a new mystery presented itself. What were those viruses doing in HQ? Why were they evolved, and more importantly, where were they coming from? 

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	8. Chapter 8

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Chapter 8: Trap   
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The last time the rebels had come to Densan, it was to Netto Hikari's old Akihara home where Rockman had been hidden. Akihara was a residential district, this time they were traveling through the downtown.

It was early the next day, and the empty skyscrapers loomed overhead, like monoliths left behind by an ancient civilization, which, in a sense, they were.

Densan was like many other formally busy cities around the world: abandoned. Many citizens simply deserted their homes during the Outbreak in hopes that an escape from cities and their abundance of electronics would provide some relief.

Densan's streets were in poor states, and windows of former storefronts and businesses were cracked or broken. Vines were creeping up the sides of buildings, while monstrously large weeds grew out of sidewalk cracks or any other recess. Nature was taking back the city.

Slate, who was leading the group, stopped in the middle of an intersection, took out his PET, and activated the holograph screen. He brought up a map of the area.

'' How much longer until we get there?'' Lloyd groaned. Once again, the rebels had walked all the way from HQ.

'' According to this, about another forty five minutes if we sustain our current pace.'' Slate said, scrutinizing the map closely.

Lloyd gave an audible groan. His constant complaints and whining was really starting to get on everyone's nerves.

Eventually, they reached the dock. There were various abandoned warehouses, rotten crates, large shipping containers, several massive cranes, as well as the dispatcher's building. Nearby, a pier stretched out into the sea, even though ships hadn't docked there in over fifty years. 

'' Alright.'' Slate stated. '' Karla, Butch, you two search the docks, while Terrence and I will investigate the dispatcher's building.'' 

'' What about me Akira?'' Lloyd asked.

'' You and Vick will stand guard.'' Slate answered.

'' WHAT! Guard against what?''

Slate shrugged. '' You never know.'' He then turned over to Vick and whispered something in his ear. Vick raised his eyebrows at this, but nodded anyway.

The two teams split up, while Vick and a grumbling Lloyd stayed behind. 

Karla and Butch eventually found a control booth for various machinery. 

'' We should plug in here.'' Karla told Butch. '' Since it issued commands to the automated equipment, it would be hooked up to the dock's network.''

'' I see.'' Butch nodded in understanding. '' We can access the network, and investigate it to see if there is anything suspicious.''

The two plugged in and their navis materialized in the net. From the looks of things, the programmers had probably tried to give an illusion of the real world. The ground was covered in what was probably cybersand, and a little ways off there was a large pool of water. An artificial sun blazed overhead while the ''sky'' was blue. 

'' What a weird place...'' Crushman said, looking around.

'' Smart Missile!''

Two missiles burst out of the water and sped towards the two navis. Tyria and Crushman lepta to the side, letting the missiles pass between them.

'' What was that?'' Tyria said in surprise.

'' Hrmmm. It appears that I missed. Unfortunate for me, fortunate for you- dearu.'' a muffled voice said.

A periscope rose out of the water, followed by a conning tower, then the hull of a blue submarine. Panels on the conning tower withdrew, revealing a white face smoking a pipe. '' I am Diveman.exe-dearu.'' 

Terry and Slate managed to obtain entrance to the dispatcher's building without much trouble.

'' So, where to now?'' Terry asked. There were various offices on either side of the hallway and a broken down elevator at the back.

'' The roof.'' Slate said as he located the emergency stairwell. '' The transmission antennas are up there to send transmissions to ships. We can plug in to see if there have been any unauthorized signals sent recently.''

'' Oh yeah, why did you make Lloyd stay behind?''

'' Because I don't trust him, that's why.'' he answered. '' Last night, I spotted him sneaking around. Eventually, he stopped and had a long conversation via PET.''

'' He was probably talking to Ryn.''

'' No.'' Slate shook his head. '' There were three voices. His, a gruff sounding male, and a female.''

'' Did you hear what was being said?'' Terry asked.

'' No, I was not close enough to hear what was being said.'' Slate admitted. '' But it must have been suspect, since he was trying to avoid detection, and why would he call someone in the middle of the night, and who would that person be? I told Vick to keep an eye on him, that's why he's stuck guarding, in case he tries anything.'' 

'' Hmm... I wonder...'' Terry said to no one in particular.

The two exited the stairwell and emerged onto the roof, where the transmission antennas were, but there was also a person up there as well.

She was wearing a red dress with white polka dots and wore a short black coat over it. Her stockings were striped and one was pulled higher up the leg than the other. She wore eye shadow and had a heart painted on one cheek. Her hair was black and was in two large braids. On her jacket, where the breast pocket would normally be, were two semicircles, end to end. One blue and the other white.

'' ! That's the crest of the Enforcers!'' Slate exclaimed. '' Who are you?''

'' You're Iwasaki right?'' the girl asked. '' I'm the Enforcer Chirol!'' 

'' Chi...rol...?'' Terry said, scratching his head.

'' Yes, it's a lovely name, isn't it?'' Chirol said, grinning to herself. '' Now, you've got a lotta nerve, showing up now! We've been waiting for you since dawn! The lack of sleep is going to wreck my beauty!''

'' Uhhh...'' Terry said, sounding dazed. He stared at this eccentric girl, bewildered.

Slate though, pressed on. '' We! Who else is with you?''

Chirol giggled. '' My partner should be taking care of your friends now.'' 

Slate gritted his teeth. '' How did you know that we were coming here?'' 

'' We received an anonymous tip that said that you would be coming to the docks on Densan's northeast side.''

_An anonymous tip..._ Terry thought. _The traitor!_

'' Now, if I defeat the legendary Akira and help destroy your rebel group, my reputation will increase, and my superiors might give me a raise, or even promote me.'' Chirol said, almost giddy at the thought of more money.

'' Vain aren't we.'' Terry said dryly, finally getting his voice back, while Slate merely said, '' So I've gone from famous to legendary now have I?''

Chirol smirked. '' Let's get this over with!'' She pointed here PET at the antenna. '' Plug in, Circusman.exe! Transmission!''

'' Plug in, Dash!''

'' Plug in, Zero!''

TRANSMISSION! 

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pounds fists on table I CAN get away with this, as Beast never existed in this fic's continuity, and the Chirol and Kurohige there were from a parallel world anyway.

Diveman's '' dearu'', is actually pronounced '' De arrr ''. I guess to make him sound like a pirate or something. Don't know if he said that in the game, but in the English version of EXE6 he said '' Awooga!'' Refering to submarine alarms, I believe.


	9. Chapter 9

shot on sight 

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Chapter 9: Iiit's the Aquatic Battle!   
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'' Diveman?'' Crushman asked. '' Who's your operator then?''

As if on cue, a view screen opened above Diveman's head, displaying a grizzled looking seadog. The man wore a captain's cap, along with suspenders and a white and red striped sleeveless shirt. He had wild hair and a mustache. A dolphin was tattooed on his arm, and on his shirt was the same dual semicircle that Chirol had.

'' I'm his operator, Kurohige!'' the man barked. '' That's ' Captain' Kurohige to you!''

'' Uh huh...'' Karla muttered, a bit bewildered.

Diveman took the pipe out of his mouth and blew several smoke rings. '' Captain Kurohige and I are Enforcers- dearu.''

'' But how did you know we were coming here?'' Tyria asked. '' Only we knew...''

'' I suppose that that's a fair question lass.'' Diveman said, fiddling around with his pipe. '' The nearest Enforcer headquarters received a tip off. That is all- dearu.''

'' A tip? From whom?''

'' Like we're going to tell you that.'' Kurohige taunted. '' We protect the confidentiality of our clients.''

'' So who knew?'' Butch asked Karla, who just shrugged.

'' Go get them Diveman!'' Kurohige ordered. '' Sent them to Davey Jones's Locker!''

'' Affirmative, Captain Kurohige.'' Diveman said in his slow, laid back voice. He placed the pipe back in his mouth, then raised his hands. '' Giga Wave!''

The water in the pool rose up into a tsunami wave, then crashed down on the ground. Crushman, being rather large, weathered the onrush of water, but Tyria had to get behind him to protect herself.

Karla slotted in a chip. '' Train Arrow, slot in!''

Tyria's right hand morphed into a bow and arrow like shooter. Taking careful aim, she fired three shots.

'' Dive Ball!'' Diveman said as a hatch opened on his bow and three spiked balls flew out, intercepting the shots and exploding.

Butch slotted in a chip, then selected a new one. '' Custom Bolt!'' 

Crushman shot a bolt of electricity at the pool, but Diveman leapt, actually _leapt_, out of the water and onto the ground. Now it was revealed that he had legs beneath his submarine body. Now he was even bigger than Crushman.

'' Yarr harr harr!'' Kurohige cackled. '' You thought that Diveman wasn't a land creature didn't ye?'' He laughed at Tyria's surprised expression, since Crushman did not have a human face. '' I made him amphibious!''

Butch muttered something profane, and slotted in a chip, then turned to Karla. '' Now what should we do?'' he asked. '' And where's that Kurohige anyway?''

Karla shrugged. '' Somewhere in this area I guess. But let's take one step at a time. Diveman comes first.''

'' Right! Slot in! Umm... Bubblestar!''

A giant bubble formed around Diveman, enclosing him inside. '' What is this- dearu?'' he questioned.

'' Now you can't dodge the Custom Bolt!'' Crushman said, leveling the conductor at the large, trapped navi.

Diveman sighed. '' Smart Missile- dearu.''

The first missile popped the bubble, the second exploded at the foot of the navis.

The explosion faded, revealing two chibi-ish dolls of both Tyria and Crushman.

'' What is this!'' Kurohige demanded.

'' Ha! The two chips I slotted in a while back were both Kawarmiri Magics!'' Butch said triumphantly.

Tyria and Crushman reappeared behind Diveman. Tyria held her hand in Diveman's direction. '' Starlight!''

Streaks of energy flew from her palm and pelted Diveman's propeller and stern. Without turning around, he submerged into the sandy ground. 

'' Where'd he go?'' Tyria demanded, looking around in confusion. 

Just then, a periscope surfaced. Tyria shot at it with her buster, but it submerged before the shots could make contact. Then, missiles shot out of the ground and flew towards the navis. They sidestepped, but this time the missiles curved back towards them. Tyria tried to shoot them, but they were too fast. The missiles exploded, throwing the two backwards.

Then, the periscope surfaced right in front of them, followed by two more missiles shot high into the air. They curved downwards, and exploded over their heads, rattling them.

Karla noticed that the sand around the holes where the missiles had shot out of were molten, then it cooled and hardened. This gave her an idea.

'' Hey Butch, Diveman is tunneling under the ground, right?''

'' Tunneling?'' Butch said, a confused look on his face, but then it cleared. '' Oh! Tunnels!''

He took out three chips and inserted them into his PET. '' Hell's Burner, triple slot in! Activate Wideburner!''

'' Right, Wideburner program advance!'' Crushman said as his hands morphed into a large flamethrower. He placed to nozzle tip to a hole where a missile had emerged, and let it rip.

The ground grew hot as the flames traveled underground, and small jets of fire leapt out of the other missile holes.

Crushman backed off, and then steam began to rise from the holes, followed by water.

'' Huh? What's going on?'' Crushman asked. '' Did he tunnel into the pool to escape? Then why's the water level not dropping?''

Tyria shrugged. '' I guess that it's programmed to always remain full. I'll take care of him.''

A face mask popped up over her mouth and nose, and she gracefully dived into the water.

The water was cool and clear, and the pool deep. At the bottom was a slightly blackened blue submarine laying next to a gaping hole. 

Tyria held her hands in front of her. '' Star Mine!'' she shouted as red stars came from her hands.

Crushman watched as a huge geyser erupted from the water. Tyria flew out of it and landed on her feet. '' Did you get him?'' Crushman asked. '' I think so.'' she answered.

Diveman drifted to the surface, a dazed look on his face. His data formed the words _log out_, and he left the net.

'' Yes! We did it!'' Karla said happily, giving Butch a high five.

'' By the way.'' Butch said as they plugged their navis out. '' Where did Kurohige go? I noticed the view screen close when we were winning.''

'' Ah, let him go.'' Karla said. '' We beat his navi, let him flee with his tail between his legs.''

Her PET beeped. '' Email Karla.'' Tyria told her. '' Oh, it's from Slate.''

Karla opened it and scanned the hastily written message. '' Oh... That definitely can't be good...'' 

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Beast showed that Diveman can operate perfectly fine in sand, so his tunneling thing is canon.

Without Zero and Dash hogging the spotlight, two (in my opinion) rather neglected characters finally get their chance to shine! Now, on to the Circusman battle.


	10. Chapter 10

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Chapter 10: Circusman's Act   
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While Tyria and Crushman were fighting Diveman, Dash and Zero had gotten into a rather bizarre battle.

Circusman looked like a clown, a rotund, scary looking clown. His body was orb shaped with buttons and a collar, and his navi symbol, which was of a clown face, was located towards the bottom, where a crotch would be on a humanoid navi. Two disembodied feet were below it. His head sat right atop the body, complete with jester-esque hat, bright red lips, rubber nose, and star shaped eyes. Four white hands floated around his body.

'' Hee hee hee!'' he giggled in a high pitched voice. '' You... you're the famous Zero, and he's Dash, right?'' the clown asked.

'' We are.'' Zero said, summoning his saber, while Dash morphed his hand into a buster.

Circusman rubbed his two lower hands together. '' Good good. It's showtime! Happy Clap!'' His two upper hands vanished and one appeared next two Zero, and the other next to Dash. Then the two smashed the two navis together. Zero sliced his in two, while Dash blew his apart with a point blank buster shot.

The hands reappeared, whole, nest to Circusman. He did several back flips in place, each time making a _sproing_ noise. When this odd ritual was finished, he put two of his hands together and produced a whip. '' Fear Whip!'' he shouted as he cracked it.

Two flaming hoops appeared and a robotic lion leapt out at each of them. Dash picked one of them off with several shots, while Zero held his saber in front of him, letting the animal split itself on the blade. 

'' Alright Dash, Shotgun, slot in!'' Terry said, slotting in the chip. 

'' I'm sending you a Hi Cannon.'' Slate informed his navi.

Their hands morphed into the respective weapons and the two of them fired. Circusman was two slow to dodge, and so took both hits.

'' That hurt you meanies!'' he fumed as the shots left burns on his body. He made a very rude gesture with all four of his hands, which then vanished and reappeared near the two navis and began to assail them with slaps and punches. Zero twisted back and forth, trying to cut them, while Dash was attempting to hold them off with buster shots.

Circusman eventually gave up on this tactic, and instead produced what looked like a deck of playing cards. He made a big show of shuffling them, then drew the top card.

'' Ha!'' He held out a card displaying flying daggers. '' Knifethrower Card!''

Zero quickly leapt in front of Dash and summoned his Shield Boomerang, just as a hail of knives flew out of the card. Most of them bounced off the shield, but a few managed to slice their arms or the sides of there legs, which were not as well protected.

Circusman drew a new card, glanced at it, then giggled, barely able to contain his glee. '' Illusion Card!'' This card showed the outline of a humanoid figure, with a dotted outline of the same figure next to it. 

Clones of Dash and Zero appeared. They looked exactly the same as the originals physically, but their colors were slightly darker, and they had blank expressions on their faces.

Copy Dash morphed his hand into a buster, while Copy Zero summoned a Z-Saber, except that it was redish purple, instead of blue green. 

'' Darn it.'' Zero grumbled. '' We're going to have to fight these things instead of Circusman...''

'' Well, we're the originals.'' Dash said confidently. '' They're just cheap knock offs, so they shouldn't be any trouble at all!''

C-Zero lunged towards Zero, while C-Dash prepared to fire on Dash.

Zero countered his clone, then dodged a blue energy blast that C-Zero had thrown. Dash hit C-Dash before he could fire, then followed up with a volley of his own.

The clones really weren't difficult to beat at all. They just kept trying to attack, never even attempting to defend themselves. Dash simply blasted C-Dash until it was deleted, while C-Zero was cleanly cloven it half by Zero.

Slate slotted in two chips. '' Grasseed and Assasinsword, double slot in!'' 

The green bulb appeared in Zero's hand. He lobbed it near Circusman, so that grass appeared beneath his feet. Then, Zero's hand morphed into a sword.

'' Now what was the point of that?'' Circusman taunted, thumbing his nose at Zero.

'' Well, since you're standing on grass...''

Slate sent an Areasteal, and Zero warped over to the clown. '' You're a perfect target for my Assasinsword!'' He slashed the rotund navi, who squealed in pain.

'' Finish him Dash!''

Terry slotted in two Volcano Cannons, so Dash's hands were replaced by cannons resembling Volcano viruses.'' You're done Circusman!'' Dash shouted, charging up his weapons. Since Circusman was standing on grass, he was, quite literally, toast.

But as he was about to fire, Dash let out a small cry and began to grimace, as if in pain.

'' Dash! What's wrong!'' Terry shouted.

'' I... I... it's...'' Dash stammered.

'' What are you stalling for!'' Zero yelled. '' Fire!''

'' R-Right! Yahhhh!''

Circusman raised his hands as if trying to swat the advancing fireballs away, but they ignited him anyway. '' Wahhhhh!'' he shrieked.  
He then logged out, the only way he could save himself.

'' WHAT!'' Chirol cried in disbelief. '' How did you! How could you?''

Terry smirked. '' We have tricks of our own. They may not be card tricks, but they get the job done.''

Chirol shot them a look of pure malice and tried to run past them, elbowing Terry in the stomach to get him out of her way.

'' That wench...'' Terry groaned as she disappeared down the stairs that led to the building's interior.

'' Let her go, there's nothing more she can do to us.'' Slate told him. Then he addressed his PET. '' Zero, access the data logs to see if any unfamiliar signals have been received or sent recently. Since these antennas were only meant for ship to port communication, it shouldn't take to long to find signals from an unknown address. Since there haven't been any ships here for decades, they'll be easy to find. In the meantime, I'll compose an email to let everyone know about the current Lloyd crisis.''

'' What are we going to do now?'' Terry asked his leader.

'' For now, we act like nothing has happened.'' Slate answered. '' He will know that his gambit has failed, so he'll be especially wary.'' 

Terry nodded, then took out his PET. '' Dash, what happened back there?'' 

'' I, I don't really know...'' Dash said, looking down. '' It felt like something rose up inside me, something primal...''

'' Alright, I'm definitely having you scanned when we get back to base.'' Terry said sternly, looking Dash straight in his artificially purple eyes, a constant reminder that something was wrong.

'' Aha!'' Zero exclaimed from inside the antenna. '' There were signals sent to a point, and received from that point as well!''

'' Where?'' Slate asked.

'' A point that's west of our base. It's in a fairly hilly area, but it's not as far out as Region 174 was.''

'' So there should be a building of some sort there, right?'' Terry asked. '' If so, then there must be some one there.''

'' Right.'' Slate said grimly. '' I believe that we need to have a little talk with whoever is sending these viruses all over the country.'' 

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I discovered during chapter 9 that a fight was hard to do when the opponent only had 3 attacks. So, I gave Circusman card tricks, in addition to his other attacks.

Oh, there was a big reference to the Zero Series here. Can you find it?

Well, now we're a little more than halfway done with the story, but now I've uploaded everything that was on my computer, there's none left! Looks like I have some typing ahead of me…


	11. Chapter 11

The copy of Zero in the last chapter was a reference to Omega Zero from Megaman Zero 3.

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Chapter 11: Locomotion

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Vick paced back and forth, trying to fully comprehend all of the information he had been forced to absorb over the past few hours.

Lloyd was a traitor, Slate had found a possible source of the viruses, and Dash had had some sort of attack, and was, once again, being scanned. This time he was being scanned inside one of those machines that showed a holograph of the navi within a glass tube, as this method was more refined.

As before, Terry walked in. '' How's Dash doing?'' he asked.

'' The scan's about halfway done.'' Vick answered. Terry sat against the tube and sighed. '' Rough day today huh?''

'' Oh yeah.'' Vick said, nodding in agreement. '' What do you think Slate is going to do about Lloyd?''

'' I don't know, and to tell the truth I really don't care at the moment.'' Terry said, closing his eyes. '' I'm just worried about Dash. This time, even he admitted that something was wrong.''

A minute or so later, a _ping_ informed them that the scan was complete. Vick leaned over to check the results, then sighed. '' It still reads as normal.''

'' Well, maybe whatever it is can't be detected by the equipment we have here.'' Terry suggested. '' After all, we have to make due with what we scavenge, build, or steal.''

'' I'm gonna try vaccinating him.'' Vick announced. '' It's worth a try.''

His PET beeped, and he fished it out of the satchel he always carried with him. '' Yes?''

'' I'm calling a meeting.'' Slate's voice said. '' Meet me in the conference room.''

'' Sorry, but I'm a little tied up at the moment.'' Vick apologized. '' But I'll keep in touch via PET.''

'' Well, I guess I'll see you.'' Terry told Vick as he stepped out of the door. '' Take care of Dash.''

Everyone else, sans Vick and Lloyd, were waiting for him at the conference room when he arrived.

'' Where's Lloyd?'' he asked as he took his seat at the table.

Butch smirked. '' I put him to work cleaning up the warehouse. Bet he hated that.''

Slate spoke up. '' There are two reasons that I have called this meeting.'' he said. '' The first is, obviously, Lloyd, but I'll bet to him in a second. '' The other reason is that Zero has pinpointed the source of the signals. It's out west, along the railroad. I did a little research, and near the location is a supply depot, similar to the one here. Next to it is a small town, presumably where the workers live. The whole place is overseen by Lieutenant Dullaq, who is from T-Corp, obviously.''

'' Are you sure about the source?'' Karla asked.

'' Well, technically, the source is somewhere on a nearby mountain, and Zero has carefully studied the readings, and there were multiple signals sent to and from the two points, so many, in fact, that this has to be the source.'' Slate explained.

'' So let me get this straight.'' Vick said from Slate's PET. '' The viruses are being transmitted from the source, to the satellite transceivers at the docks, to the TV satellite, then to various locations around the country?''

'' Correct.'' Slate confirmed, nodding. '' We need to end this, before the person gets confident and begins to transmit the viruses worldwide.''

'' It'll be like the Outbreak all over again, only worse…'' Terry muttered. While the actual Outbreak only lasted around a decade, the last two years being the worst, the ultimate impact had thrown the world into chaos. While T-Corp's rule was harsh at times, it was better than complete anarchy.

'' How we're going to get there is simple.'' Slate continued. '' We will either hijack or stow away onboard an outbound train.''

'' What about Lloyd?'' Karla asked.

'' We need to be wary around him.'' Slate answered. '' I wish we could simply throw him out, but we can't. I don't know what his motive is, but it could be for a monetary reward. Yen, dollars, or something else.''

'' Did he tell you anything suspicious when you were interviewing him?'' Butch asked.

'' No.'' Slate said, shaking his head. '' He said he was raised in San Diego, and his parents were lawyers, but his mother died during the birth of his sister, and his father died of age a few years back.''

'' Oh, uh, sorry to interrupt,'' Vick's voice said. '' But the vaccine isn't working.''

'' _What!_'' Terry cried. '' What do you mean?''

'' I keep getting an error screen.'' Vick told him. '' It's like he's… rejecting the command…''

'' Shit…'' Terry muttered, burying his head in his hands. '' Shit…''

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Slate and Butch arrived at the train depot about an hour later. They were scouting the area to see if security had been tightened since they had robbed the cargo train. The answer? Not really. There were almost no guards in sight, even though there were far more trains at the depot this time. There was, however, much more civilian activity. Workers were operating machinery to load the trains, while engineers and mechanics hovered around. The air was filled with the sounds of the operating machinery, conversations, and cuss words.

Butch squatted down behind some crates to watch the activity. '' Sure is busy.'' he told Slate. '' Yesterday it was completely dead.''

'' Hey! Who are you!''

A man dressed as an engineer had spotted them and was running, jogging rather, over to them. Apart from his blue uniform and cap, he had the beginnings of a beard and he looked to be about 50.

He stopped when he reached Slate and Butch. '' You're from that rebel group around here, aren't you?'' he said. '' Yeah, I recognize you two from old wanted posters!''

Butch nervously glanced at Slate, who was trying to plan an escape.

The man smiled. '' Don't worry, I won't turn you in. I'm Kurogane Kunio.''

'' Wh-why?'' Butch stammered, taken aback.

'' Simple.'' Kurogane said. '' I just drive these trains for a living, I don't follow T-Corp's way of thinking.''

Slate came up with an idea. '' Kurogane-san, could you help us with something?''

Kurogane raised an eyebrow. '' With what?''

'' Well, we're trying to get to the next town, Ironsould, where the next depot is. Can you help us?''

'' Why are you asking me?''

'' Because,'' Slate began. '' You're a decent person, I can tell by looking at you. If you would 'let' us on to one of your trains, we would greatly appreciate it. It's for a good cause.''

'' Well…'' Kurogane scratched his chin. '' If it's for a good cause, I don't see why not.''

'' Are you sure that would be a good idea Kurogane-san?''

Kurogane took out a PET. '' It'll be alright Chargeman. They're good people.'' He held out his PET to Slate and Butch. '' This is my navi by the way.''

Chargeman.exe looked like an old fashioned, red steam locomotive with green eyes and extremities that resembled arms and hands.

'' Hey! Kurogane-san!'' someone shouted. '' What are you doing?''

'' I have to go.'' Kurogane said, pocketing his PET. '' Meet me here at 10am, in three days.''

'' 10am, three days, got it.'' Slate repeated.

He and Butch began to head back to HQ as Kurogane departed. '' Are you sure about this?'' Butch asked.

'' It is risky, I'll admit that.'' Slate said. '' But it's the safest option available to us at the moment.

Butch remained silent, thinking it over.

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	12. Chapter 12

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Chapter 12: A Bold Strike

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'' Ma'am, you have an incoming message.''

Kassandra sighed and hit the reply button on her desk's intercom. '' I'll take it. No one is to disturb me while I'm taking it.''

She sat back in her chair as the hologram projector that was built into her desk activated. A two dimensional screen popped up, displaying a man and a girl. It took a second for recognition, but when it kicked in, Kassandra adopted the appropriate look of annoyance.

'' Kurohige, Chirol,'' she said coolly. '' Why have you called me, much less used my private line?''

'' Forgive us ma'am.'' Kurohige said, not daring to object at her not addressing him as 'Captain.' '' It's just that…''

'' We've received some new information about that rebel group!'' Chirol cut in.

'' Really.'' Kassandra said, looking skeptic. '' From whom?''

'' Um, the informant…'' Kurohige answered, looking nervous.

Kassandra instantly knew who he was referring to. '' And what did he say?''

'' He said that they would be leaving for Ironsould, on the southwest supply line.'' Chirol explained. '' We would like to ask for a second chance to fight them. He said that he was telling us this incase you wished for us to take action, as _he_ won't have anything to do with us.''

What she really meant, thought Kassandra, was that they were desperate to improve their image after their last defeat, and had bugged the informant into giving them the info.

'' They soundly defeated you last time.'' she said, narrowing her eyes. '' How will this time be different?''

'' Well, this time…'' Kurohige began, searching for an answer.

'' This time we'll know what to expect!'' Chirol finished.

'' Fine.'' Kassandra said, eager to finish this conversation. '' But this time you'll be on your own. I'll instruct Lieutenant Dullaq not to help you in any way. If you fail again, I'll personally see you two transferred to the Sharo Enforcers Unit. There are plenty of low level rebel groups up there for you to fight, if you can stand the cold, that is!''

She hit the END TRANSMISSION button, and the screen vanished,

'' Kassy.''

Kassandra took out her PET. '' What is it Lunare?''

'' Why don't you send me to defeat those rebels? I can move freely throughout cyberspace, I could have it done in a matter of hours.''

Kassandra shook her head. '' We have more important things to work on. And besides, the _informant _would be livid if we interfered.''

'' Anyway, I have a new job for you. Go to the Archives and retrieve file A-03951. It is the same file that Yamoto gave me about the viruses the other day. I want to take another look at it.''

'' Very well Kassy.''

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Most of the Archives were open to the general public, but a large section of it was government access only. This particular file was deep within this restricted area, so Lunare was more than a little surprised to find two Heelnavis rummaging through the shelves of data disks.

'' Find anything we can sell for some quick cash?'' the first one asked his companion.

'' Hey! What are you doing here!''

The two purple navis jumped in alarm and whirled their saucer like heads around. '' Who are you lady!''

'' You should know who I am. I am Lunare.exe.'' Lunare said, giving the navis a piercing stare.

'' You're Lunare!'' one of them said in disbelief.

The other one leaned forward. '' I've never seen you before, but now that I have…''

'' I think you're kinda hot.'' he concluded.

Lunare could not believe that he would try to hit on her after being caught red handed doing something illegal. '' You dare to try to flatter me after trying to carry out high treason! You fools!''

The navis morphed their hands into cannons. '' Just try us Lunare! I don't like havin' ta delete women, but I've got no choice!''

They fired and their shots hit their marks, but when the explosion faded, Lunare was still standing there, completely unharmed.

'' What the hell?'' the first navi cried in disbelief, while the lovestruck one exclaimed,

'' Wow! Not only hot, but strong too!''

'' Lunare couldn't believe these two. '' You are pathetic. Consider it an honor to be deleted by myself.''

She held out her hand and a long, white spear appeared. At it's tip was a nasty looking blade, perfect for slashing or stabbing. She quickly dashed forward, cutting the two navis as she went, deleting them instantly. She didn't even have to use a special attack.

Immediately, the sound of running footsteps could be heard and a squad of Security Navis appeared from the end of the shelf row. The leader, who had the face of a male human, stopped dead when he saw Lunare. '' Uh, wh-what happened here Lunare-sama?'' he asked nervously. If he was human, he would've been sweating like a pig.

'' It seems that I have to speak to your supervisor about the security here.''

'' Umm, yes ma'am…''

Lunare turned to leave, but one of the navis screamed and was deleted. She turned to see white Dreambits advancing on the navis.

'' What the! How could viruses get into the Archives!'' The navi leader cried, opening fire as more Dreambits materialized.

Lunare quickly slashed through two of the nearest viri, but another one unleashed a volley of green lasers at her. Two of them made contact, both on her left side. One on her shoulder, the other beneath her breast. She noticed that the two lasers had left behind scorch marks, and were both stinging slightly.

_That's odd… Viruses shouldn't be able to inflict damage on me… I'm too strong…_

Another navi was deleted, jolting her back to reality. She sliced through another Dreambit, then raised her spear. '' Icicle Shower!''

Dagger like shards of ice rained down on the viri, pinning them to the floor and deleting them.

'' Th-thank you Lunare-sama.'' the leader navi said, looking visibly relieved.

'' How did viruses get in here?'' Lunare asked him, rubbing her shoulder more for effect as it didn't hurt anymore.

'' Uh… uh… I d-don't know Lunare-sama…''

'' Hmph. Looks like some changes will have to be made.'' Lunare told him with as much coolness that she could, as the battle rush was still going through her.

She turned and left the bewildered navis behind her. She passed by massive rows of data shelves until she reached row A. She walked down it until she found the file that she had been originally searching for. After pulling it from the shelf, she logged out.

But the virus crisis had only gotten worse. They had now managed to infiltrate the Archives, at the very heart of T-Corp. If something wasn't done, and soon, there would be no telling as to what could happen.

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Heelnavis were the generic evil navis from EXE3-5. I think they appeared in an episode of Stream.

Dreambit is the Japanese name for the Scuttler viruses in EXE2-3. They were spawned from the Dreamvirus. The Omega version in EXE3 was white, had a 200hp aura, and shot a green laser down one row.

Oh, and the Enforcers are T-Corp's version of Net Saviors. The Enforcers are a bit more harsh with their methods though.


	13. Chapter 13

Forgive the recent slowness of updates. I've been working on my summer job, and it's been brutally hot recently, nearly 100 today, so I'm finding it real hard to work up the energy to type chapters.

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Chapter 13: Iron Rematch

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'' He said that he would be here…'' Butch muttered, scanning the depot. It was three days later, at the agreed upon time. The day was a Sunday, so the depot was practically abandoned save for a few sleepy engineers clustered around the entrance to a rest house. The rebels were hiding behind a large metal container which was destined to be loaded onto a flatbed truck.

'' Hey! Over here!''

Kurogane was walking towards them, a sack of some sort over his shoulder.

'' Ah, Kurogane-san!'' Slate said gratefully, '' We were afraid that you wouldn't come.''

'' I was getting ready for my run.'' Kurogane explained. '' The first stop is Ironsould, which is why I'm offering you guys a ride.''

'' So, we're going by train?'' Karla asked.

Kurogane nodded. '' Yes. It's the fastest way to travel around these parts.''

He led them over to a train headed by a red locomotive. It was modeled after the train engines from the 21st century.

'' It's not automonus?'' Lloyd asked. So far, his demeanor hadn't changed a bit, even though the rebels were keeping a close eye on him.

'' No.'' Kurogane said, answering his question. '' Those drones have no personality at all. These things are the best.''

They climbed up into the control cabin. Once there, Kurogane laid his sack on the floor, took a seat and glanced at a status display screen. '' How're the diagnostics going Chargeman?''

The steam engine like navi appeared on the screen. '' Everything is operating at optimal performance Kurogane-san. We can leave at any time.''

'' Alright then.'' Kurogane said in satisfaction and began to manipulate the control panel. '' We'll depart right away.''

After a few minutes, the engine began to emit steam and the train began to advance, pulling its cargo behind it.

Kurogane leaned back in his chair as the train began to accelerate. '' We'll be there in around a half hour.''

'' Thank you very much.'' Slate said gratefully.

'' By the way, why do you want to go to Ironsould anyway?'' Kurogane asked.

'' Someone… is releasing viruses out onto the net. Stronger ones.'' Slate said plainly.

'' Well, it can't be anyone in the town itself.''

'' Why's that?'' Vick asked.

'' Because the most intricate device in the town itself is an icebox.'' Kurogane answered. '' The only computers are at the depot and in the administrations building, and I can assure you that it's not where you're looking for, as Dullaq is very loyal to T-Corp.''

'' Well… Maybe something is hidden on one of the mountains.'' Karla suggested.

Kurogane shrugged. '' Maybe.''

Eventually, Kurogane began to slow the train down, as trains couldn't stop suddenly like cars could.

'' There, there's the depot.'' Kurogane said, pointing torwards a collection of buildings and warehouses up ahead, where several additional tracks split off from the main four.

'' You better get off now. We're not going very fast at all; you can simply jump off.''

'' Thank you again for bring us.'' Slate told him.

'' I'm just doing what's right.'' Kurogane said in response. '' Now go! Or else you'll be discovered!''

The six rebels thanked him and jumped off. The ground was not very rough, and the train wasn't moving all that quickly, so they were unhurt. Afterwards, it was only a short walk to Ironsould.

It was a quaint town. The houses were built out of wood and were of decent size, giving the town an appearance similar to towns depicted in old cowboy movies. It was obviously not dirt poor like Kyotoro, for there were bars, saloons rather, convience stores, and the people looked rather fit, abeit a little grim. None of them were paying the six much mind as a crowd of people were streaming towards the depot to unload the train.

'' Uh, excuse me…'' Terry said, attempting to catch some attention, but he was ignored. '' Hey!'' he finally shouted, this time causing one man to stop and fire off a short bit of Japanese at him. Whatever he had said was probably very rude, for Slate shook his head and muttered something to himself.

'' Man, doesn't anyone here speak English?'' Terry sighed.

'' Probably.'' Slate said. '' I'll take over.'' He was, after all, a native speaker.

Instead of going to a worker, he went to a man who was sitting on the steps of one of the stores and engaged him in a conversation. After a little bit, the man pointed to a small group of boys playing what looked like marbles. Slate thanked him and walked back to his companions.

'' Well, what did he say?'' Lloyd asked.

'' I asked him if he had seen anything unusual.'' Slate began. '' He told me that a boy named Hideki had been on the mountain and was claiming that there is a scientist up there. I think he should be a good place to start.''

'' Well, where is he?''

'' Over there.'' Slate said simply, pointing over to the group of boys.

He began to walk over to them. Most of them fled at the stranger's approach, but one black haired boy stood his ground. '' Who are you?'' he asked in English.

'' I am Iwasaki Akira.'' Slate answered. '' I was told that you were up on the mountain. Was there anything strange up there?''

'' There's a guy living up there, Arman-hakase. He let me stay there for the night when I got lost. But no one believes me…''

'' So this is the guy we've been looking for.'' Terry said, walking over.

'' He's… he's doing something to navis up there!'' Hideki blurted out.

Slate raised an eyebrow. '' Really? Well we believe that he's doing something even worse. Do you remember where he is?''

'' He has a lab of some sort, up there…'' Hideki said, pointing to a rocky portion of the mountain, just above the trees.

By now a crowd of people had gathered around the rebels and Hideki, forming a semicircle around them. Most of them had unfriendly expressions on their faces.

'' This doesn't look too good…'' Karla muttered, moving closer to Terry.

But then some of the people let out alarmed shouts and ran or dived out of the way as a rouge, unmanned forklift, probably from the depot, plowed forward towards the rebels. They scattered as the thing hit the building next to them, creating a resounding crash.

'' W- what's this!'' Vick said nervously, as he continued to back away.

'' Sit still so that I can crush you!'' a high pitched voice said in frustration.

'' Oh no… That's Circusman.'' Terry groaned.

A new voice spoke. '' You won't gain anything by defying usde-aru.''

'' I'd recognize that dialect anywhere. Diveman's in there too!'' Butch exclaimed.

'' That means that their operators are around here…'' Slate muttered.

Sure enough, Chirol and Kurohige came running in the wake of the forklift, both out of breath.

'' You two…'' Butch muttered.

'' You mean those are the guys from the dock?'' Lloyd asked.

'' Right!'' Kurohige shouted. '' We've been given another chance to destroy you!''

'' And we have to.'' Chirol added. '' I don't wanna go to Sharo!''

'' What are you talking…'' Butch began. '' Wait! How did you know that we were coming?''

But of course, they already knew the answer.

The errant forklift backed up from the dent it had inflicted on the building and swung around for another pass. '' Plug in! We have no choice!'' Slate shouted. '' Vick, Lloyd, try to bring this thing to a standstill, we'll handle the navis!''

Lloyd looked a little disappointed at missing another fight, but he plugged in anyway. The others followed suit.

In a shower of pixels, Dash, Tyria, Crushman, Zero, Ryn, and Beta materialized in the forklift's cyberworld. Ryn and Beta quickly vanished, teleporting to a different part of the network. Circusman and Diveman were standing before the other navis.

'' Whee! I'm gonna delete you this time!'' Circusman said gleefully, hopping from foot to foot as Diveman crossed his arms. '' This is the end for you de-aru.''

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Savor (or curse) that cliff hanger while I go put some cold liquid in me; preferably a soda.


	14. Chapter 14

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Chapter 14: Aquatic Circus

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'' Who, who are these people?'' Hideki asked, fearfully watching the hijacked forklift.

'' They're Enforcers.'' Butch answered grimly.

Slate eyed Chirol and Kurohige with a look of disapproval. '' The Enforcers have fallen a long way since I was one…''

'' Shut up!'' Kurohige spat. '' Diveman, blow them out of the water!''

The hatch on Diveman's bow opened. '' Dive Ball!'' he shouted as several bombs shot out of it. The navis leapt away as they landed.

'' Terrence, we'll take on Circusman, just like before.'' Slate ordered.

Terry nodded. '' Right. We'll beat him again!''

'' Wrong answer!'' Circusman said. '' This time _you're_ the ones that'll be beaten!''

Slate responded by taking out two chips and slotting them in. '' Areasteal and Machinegun, double slot in!''

Zero vanished and reappeared high in the air. His right hand morphed into a double barreled machine gun. Still in mid air, he began to fire upon Circusman, who hadn't spotted him yet. Circusman yelped as the shots made contact, but one of his four hands appeared near the falling Zero and backhanded him, causing him to fall and hit the ground on his stomach and much harder than he intended to. He glanced up at Dash, who hadn't moved. '' What are you doing?'' he shouted. '' Do you want to be deleted? Attack him!''

'' Sorry sorry!'' Terry said hastily. '' Markcannon, slot in!''

Dash's hand was replaced by a green cannon with a small metal shield. He took careful aim and fired, but Circusman moved one of his hands in front of it. While the hand did the meta cube deletion animation, it reappeared in a shower of pixels, making it an expendible shield.

'' Gloom Cage!'' Circusman shouted, before proceeding to vanish.

'' Wha? Where did he go?'' Dash said, confused. He then noticed a shadow forming beneath him. Quickly, he leapt to the side as Circusman, now resembling a circus tent more then a clown, came down on that spot.

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'' Smart Missile!'' Diveman shouted as he launched two missiles. Karla selected a chip on her PET's hologram screen. '' Barrier!''

A pyramid shaped energy shield surrounded Tyria and Crushman, and the missiles harmlessly exploded against it.

Karla then selected a Mega Energy Bomb and dragged that over. It appeared in Tyria's hand and she threw it at the submarine navi. Diveman swallowed his pipe and sank into the floor as if it were water. '' Not again…'' Tyria groaned.

'' Don't worry, I got this one.'' Butch said, carelessly waving his hand. '' Drillarm, slot in!''

Crushman's hand was replaced by a drill. He waited patiently until Diveman's periscope appeared, then he leapt over to it and jammed the drill downward, resulting in a yelp of surprise and pain. The periscope retracted and Diveman emerged from the floor a distance away, rubbing his head. '' It looks like you've gotten smarter since our last meeting- dearu.''

Tyria smiled. '' Yep. Which is why we're gonna beat you even easier this time.''

'' I wouldn't count on that.''

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Circusman was sent sliding backwards from the barrage of attacks he had just taken.

'' Circusman!'' Chirol shouted. '' Use your special ability to end this!''

'' Special ability?'' Circusman asked, sounding confused. '' Oh! That!''

'' Special ability? What do you mean?'' Dash asked.

'' Hee hee. The show's over for you now!'' Circusman exclaimed. He then reached over to his torso and _pulled it apart!_ Spreading the remains of his 'jacket' away from his body, a black void was visible.

'' What the devil is that?'' Zero cried.

Dash felt is footing slip, and then realized that he was being _sucked in!_

'' What are you doing!'' Terry shouted at Chirol.

'' Before I was an Enforcer I was a doing menial work as a secretary.'' Chirol answered. '' I customized my navi so that he had a very large memory capacity. Since a secretary needs to keep track and record lots of data, I used him to store the data. When I became an Enforcer, I modified it so that it could be used offensively.''

Dash started to run, but it was like trying to run through a gale. He aimed his buster behind him and fired blasts into the void, but it simply sucked them up.

'' Plug out, now!'' Slate said, thumbing the button. Nothing happened, the void was interfering with the signal.

'' Arrg.'' Zero grunted as he started to flee the vortex, his blond hair blowing behind him. '' Saberwave!'' he managed to shout, bringing his Z-Saber down to unleash the energy wave. Unfortunately, the gluttonous void sucked that it too. There seemed no way of escape.

'' Crazy Locomotive!''

Something smashed into Circusman from the side, sending him flying across the floor and nullifying the suction.

'' What the… Chargeman?'' Dash said in confusion.

The train navi puffed steam from his smokestack. '' That's what you get for messing with Ironsould!'' he bellowed towards Circusman.

Terry turned to see Kurogane standing nearby, his PET pointed at the forklift. '' I thought that there was some sort of commotion going on.''

'' Thank you Kurogane-san.'' Slate said in relief.

'' Chirol, Kurohige, you can't win against all of us! Give up!'' Dash shouted.

'' That green brat is right. Plug out.'' Kurohige grumbled, plugging his navi out.

'' I'm sorry Circusman…'' Chirol sighed. '' But we can still use the forklift to crush the humans!''

The forklift backed up towards the rebels at a high speed, smashing into the building again.

'' Vick, Lloyd, what are you doing!'' Slate demanded.

'' Virus busting!'' Ryn answered as he sliced a Lark in two. '' They're all over the drive system!''

Beta stood before a command window which was in front of the spherical core. '' They have it on an auto program. I'm having trouble analyzing it, let alone hacking it!''

'' Ah screw this.'' Lloyd said. '' Ryn, destroy the drive program!''

Ryn nodded and threw his spear at the core. The spear hit it, making it spark. Then it exploded. In the real world, the forklift shut down and smoke began to pour out from the undercarriage.

'' That did the trick.'' Lloyd said, plugging Ryn out in front of an indignant Vick.

Chirol and Kurohige, meanwhile, had been slowly backing up, looking for an escape route. Instead of safety, they encountered an angry mob.

'' You cause trouble in our town?'' one person said in broken English as he cracked his knuckles.

'' Y- you can't hurt us! We're with the government!'' Chirol said shrilly, eyeing a heavy looking club.

'' We not care.'' the man said. '' We may work for government, but we not like it. Or you.''

At this, Chirol let out a little scream and started running, with Kurohige hurrying after her. The mob surged forward in pursuit.

'' What's gonna happen to them?'' Butch asked Hideki.

Hideki shrugged. '' They're probably just going to be run out of town.''

'' Well, now that that's over with…'' Slate sighed. '' We'd better get moving.''

So the rebels bade goodbye to both Hideki and Kurogane and began on the final leg of their journey. But were they fully prepared for what lay ahead? Of course not.

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The battle was almost completely rewritten, cause the one I had before was crap.

Dash and Zero stole the spotlight again, curses!

Circusman's suction thing is canon, as he used it in EXE6 to absorb the Cybeasts. On an interesting note, in the FMA manga Gluttony has a similar ability.

This is the end of the filler, I swear! From now on, you'll get straight up plot.


	15. Chapter 15

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Chapter 15: The Virus Man Again

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It took about two hours to reach the rocky area that Hideki had pointed out. At first, the climb hadn't been very difficult. They had first trekked through the forest. The only obstacles there had been fallen tree trunks, as the forest floor wasn't overgrown with weeds or thorns. Later, the terrain became more treacherous and steeper. Mostly everyone had suffered scrapes or cuts during this phase of the ascent.

Slate took out his PET and studied a set of coordinates on it. '' According to this, we're practically standing on top of the signal source.''

Butch stomped on the ground. '' That kid said that there was a lab around here. Since I don't see any buildings, it must be underground.''

'' Darn…'' Karla sighed, sitting down on a rock. '' We should've asked him how to get in.''

Butch frowned. '' Well, there should be an entrance somewhere.''

Lloyd meanwhile, had been carefully studying the ground. Then he stopped, and began to brush aside gravel and rocks with his feet. '' What are you doing?'' Terry asked. He noticed a look on Lloyd's face somewhere between determination and coldness.

Lloyd ignored him and continued to brush away gravel. Then he bent down and grabbed a hold of something and began to pull. With a creak, he pulled open a metal hatch, revealing a tunnel leading down into the mountain. Along one side was a set of rungs, so that a person could climb up or down.

'' If it's underground, then there would have to be an access route somewhere.'' Lloyd explained. His voice was serious this time, completely lacking the carefree tone he usually held.

Slate walked over to the portal and peered down it. '' Since we don't know what's down there,'' he began. '' If anyone wants to back out now, I won't say anything.''

'' Who's gonna do that?'' Terry asked. '' We've all come this far, so we'll all see this to its end.''

'' Very well.'' Slate said. '' Let's go.''

They entered the hatch, one by one, and found themselves in a dimly lit chamber. To one side there was a hallway.

Terry looked around, then suddenly leapt back in alarm. '' Yikes!'' he shouted. '' There's a Candle Devil in here!''

'' Stop being an idiot, it's just a painting!'' Karla said, scowling at him.

'' It is?'' Terry asked. He backed up and saw that it was indeed a painting.

'' Try to be more quiet…'' Slate sighed.

'' Sorry…''

They walked down the hallway until it ran into another, perpendicular to the first. There was a large door there, and upon closer inspection, a thrumming noise could be heard.

'' I wonder what's making that noise.'' Vick said as they got closer. '' It sounds like there's some pretty heavy machinery operating in there.''

On the other side was a circular room. A large domelike device was in the center of the room, and there were various servers and other devices on one side of the room. On the other side was a staircase that ended about eight feet off the ground at a door set into the wall.

'' What are all of these machines for?'' Terry wondered. '' I've never seen any of them before.''

'' Who are you!''

The door at the top of the stairs had opened and a white haired old man in a lab coat had emerged.

'' Are you Arman-hakase?'' Slate shouted up.

'' Yes, I am.'' the man answered. '' But who are you, and how did you get here!''

'' I am Iwasaki Akira.'' Slate answered. '' Behind me is Terrence, Karla, Butch, Vick, and Lloyd. We're rebels.''

'' Rebels?'' Arman said, sounding confused. '' Why would you bother to visit me?''

'' Because we know what you're up to!'' Karla shouted up to him. '' You're sending evolved viruses around the country!''

Arman bowed his head. '' If there's one thing I pride myself on, it's my honesty. Yes miss, I am. How did you know?''

'' Because a bunch of evolved metools ended up at our HQ.'' Butch answered. '' We simply tracked them back here.''

The old man swore. '' Dammit, that was a mistake! I wasn't trying to send them there!'' He descended the staircase and moved closer to the rebels.

'' I've been transmitting them from a communications array here to a television satellite, to various other transceivers until they reach their destination.'' he explained.

'' We figured that out.'' Terry said. '' How did you evolve them?''

Arman sighed. '' Years ago I became a virus researcher for T-Corp. They built this lab out here for me to use so that if there ever was an accident, the viruses would not be able to escape onto the big Net. Recently, I discovered a way to evolve them. Now, viruses evolve naturally over time, but I discovered how to do it artificially: simply feed them a large number of bug pieces.''

'' Alright, but why are you sending them to attack to government?''

Arman frowned and lost the 'kindly old man' appearance. '' Because the government is a shadow of its former self! I've kept in touch, and ever since those… those kids came to power the quality of rule has plummeted! They've put down an iron fist, and even the rest of the government does not have a hundred percent confidence in them! They need to fall!''

Slate smiled to himself. '' While that is true and your cause is just, you're going about this the wrong way. What you are doing is terrorism. We, real rebels, do not stoop to such tactics. We go about our missions in a way that undermines the system, weakening it until it plummets.''

His smile faded. '' You are walking a dangerous road, Arman-hakase. The more powerful viruses get, the tougher they are to control. I assume that that device is what supposedly controls them.''

'' Yes.'' Arman said, gesturing towards the domelike device. '' That is my virus controller.''

'' Also,'' Terry added. '' If the viruses escape and start multiplying, it'll be like the Outbreak all over again, only worse.'' He remembered Saito Hikari, the boy whose life had been drastically changed by the Outbreak. '' And we can't have that.''

'' Oh yes!'' Karla remembered. '' A boy named Hideki told us that you're doing something to navis up here!''

'' Oh that?'' Arman said dismissively. '' He must've seen some of my old lab reports. A while ago, I discovered that when Dreamviruses evolve, they gain a special power. They lose their aura, but they grow to a prodigious size, and gain the ability to inject 'venom' into other programs. Mainly, net navis.''

Everything became clear. Terry remembered when he, Butch and Karla had broken into the ruins of Scilab to find information on Saito. During their stay, they had triggered the security and the navis had been forced to battle an evolved Dreamvirus. Dash had received a cut during the battle, so that must've been the cause of his infection.

'' The venom integrates itself with the navi's programming.'' Arman continued. '' Eventually it takes over completely, transforming the navi into a virus-navi hybrid.''

'' Is, is there any way to cure it?'' Terry asked, stunned.

Arman shrugged. '' At first, a simple vaccine does the trick, but eventually that won't work. The navi could fight back and delete it itself, but normal scans can't pick up the venom, so they rarely know that they are infected until it is too late.''

Slate gritted his teeth. '' Hakase, shutdown your virus controller and your other machinery now. Your little experiment cannot continue!''

'' Or what?'' Arman asked, calling his bluff.

'' Or we'll do it ourselves.'' Slate answered. '' This is for your good as well as everyone else's.''

'' NO!'' Arman shouted. '' I will NOT allow you to do so!''

'' You're hardly in any position to argue.'' Slate said coolly. '' If you don't want to get hurt, go to your office and stay there!''

Arman scoffed. '' You wouldn't hurt an old man!''

'' Try me.''

Seeing that Slate was not playing games, Arman realized that he had no choice and stalked up the stairs to his office.

After he had left, Slate turned to everyone. '' Plug in. Lloyd, go keep an eye on Arman-hakase. You can operate Ryn from there.''

'' I'll go see if I can find anything on the venom.'' Vick said. '' Good luck with the viruses.'' He ducked out of the room.

Lloyd plugged in Ryn, then headed to the office. Inside was a desk with a taken apart computer on top of it. Next to it on the floor was a toolbox containing wrenches, screwdrivers, and a sledgehammer. Behind was a filing cabinet. Arman was at his desk, a look of sadness and anger on his face. When he saw Lloyd enter, he looked up. '' What do you want?... Wait… IT'S YOU! How did you, why are you!''

Lloyd smirked. '' Hello doctor. You thought you could get away, didn't you?''

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I am so evil with my cliffhangers. Don't worry though, you'll find out who Lloyd is in the next chapter.

The concept of viruses evolving through bug pieces was taken from EXE3, where you could feed the viruses in the virus feeder bug pieces to power up battlechips that featured the viruses. Feeding a Spikey a bug piece would power up the Spikey battlechip etc.

If you need a fresher on the evolved Dreamvirus, read chapter 6 of The Link Between the Past and Present.

See ya.


	16. Chapter 16

jhvh777: Well, Slate doesn't know Lloyd's true agenda. He thinks that he is just trying to get them busted. He figures that he won't try anything funny while the other rebels are so close him and can possibly stop him if it comes down to a fight.

Dash has been infected since the beginning. In fact, he's been infected ever since The Link Between the Past and Present, but he hasn't shown any signs until now.

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Chapter 16: To Stop an Outbreak

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Zero, Dash, Tyria, Crushman, and Ryn materialized in the virus controller's cyberworld. The only things that set it apart from most other cyberworlds were platforms floating above the ground, and the control core, which looked like a diamond.

As expected, viruses began to materialize, but these were of an unfamiliar breed. Their basic design was similar to a Swordy, except that these were larger and more heavily armored. Clutched in their hands were nasty looking broadswords.

'' What are those?'' Tyria said, eyeing them warily. '' I've never seen a virus like that before.''

'' Hmph. Creation of new virus species is illegal.'' Ryn scowled. '' It was one of the first laws that T-Corp passed.''

'' Well, let's see how tough they are!'' Dash said, firing off a buster shot that bounced off of the virus's armor.

'' Okay, so they're not going to be that easy…'' Dash sighed. Tyria noticed that there was a look of worry in his eyes, most likely from what Arman had said, as the worry seemed to run deeper than concern about viruses.

Slate started off the battle. '' Areasteal, slot in!'' Zero warped over to the nearest virus. The thing brought its sword down with massive force. Zero managed to side step, but he almost lost his balance from the shock. Recovering, he thrust his saber up into the black space where its glowing eyes were. The virus let out a groan, and then fragmented into a cube like any other virus.

'' So, the eyes are the weak point.'' Terry observed. '' Markcannon! Slot in!''

Dash's hand was replaced by a mark cannon. He leveled it at another virus's eyes and fired, scoring a direct hit. The virus lurched back from the hit and fragmented.

Another virus thrust its sword at Ryn, blade parallel to the ground. Ryn hopped back out of range and leapt onto the flat part of the blade and thrust his spear in between the eyes, deleting it.

Crushman wasn't using any battlechips at all, he was simply throwing punches left and right, his powerful fists smashing armor and shattering swords, while Tyria was taking advantage of her size and speed to confuse the virus until she could score a fatal hit.

Slate slotted in an Airshoes, sending Zero onto one of the platforms floating around the core. Slate took out three more chips. '' High Cannon, triple slot in!'' Zero's hands morphed into a Giga Cannon. He aimed it at the core and fired, letting the immense plasma blast incinerate the core.

With the core destroyed, the viruses lost their will to fight. Some simply stood there, while other's mulled around aimlessly. They put up absolutely no resistance, and were easily deleted.

'' Alright!'' Dash said happily, as the last virus was destroyed.

Zero jumped down from the platform. '' Good job.'' he said. It was rare for him to offer congratulations after a successful mission.

'' How do you feel?''

It was Ryn who had said it. He was standing with his back to the rebels, so that they could not see his face.

'' What do you mean?'' Zero asked, tightening his grip on his saber.

'' Now that you've accomplished your goal, how do you feel?'' Ryn asked, still facing away. '' Do you feel happy, relieved, satisfied?''

'' What are you trying to get at?'' Dash asked.

'' What you should be feeling…'' Ryn said. '' …is fear.''

'' Fear?''

'' Heh heh heh.'' Ryn chuckled. '' You've made my job much easier, thanks.''

He turned around, his face was now decorated with a leer, while there was a maniacal gleam in his gray eyes. '' As a little reward, I'll try to make this as painless as possible!'' His spear materialized in his hand.

'' We knew it!'' Tyria shouted. '' You and Lloyd are traitors!''

'' Really?'' Ryn said, sounding vaguely amused. '' Then why didn't you do anything about it? Then your deletions will be your own fault!''

He leapt into the air and swung his spear in a downward slash. '' Sonic Slash!'' A sonicboom like energy wave was unleashed. Zero flipped over it and fired off a Saberwave when Ryn hit the ground.

Ryn jumped to the side to dodge it, then turned to see Crushman make a leap at him. Ryn ducked down low and swung his spear in a crescent shaped arch, forcing Crushman to log out.

Karla slotted in a chip. '' Senshahou!'' Tyria's arm morphed into a Tank Cannon and she fired a large blast from it, but Ryn merely tilted his head to the side and let the blast blow past his head and explode.

Dash fired off the Boomerang battlechip, but Ryn sliced it in two. Slate slotted in two chips, and Zero charged in to attack, but Ryn sliced him nearly in two. '' And that is the end of the legendary Zero!'' he said smugly.

'' Guess again.''

The cloven body turned into a Zero doll, and the real Zero reappeared above Ryn via an Areasteal. He came crashing down on Ryn, knocking him to the floor and kicking his spear out of the blue and white navi's reach. '' If you want to live…'' Zero growled, pointing his saber at Ryn's throat. '' I suggest you not make a move.''

All seemed to be well in the cyberworld with Ryn's defeat, but all was not well in the real world, as a series of crashes and panicked shouts came from Arman's office at the top of the stairs. '' Oh no…'' groaned Terry. '' Kuso!'' Slate spat. The rebels ran up the staircase and into the office to witness something terrible.

Lloyd had grabbed the sledgehammer that had been in the toolbox, and had brought it up in preparation for a blow. Arman was cowering on the floor, helpless.

'' NO!'' Slate screamed as Terry screwed his eyes shut, trying to block out the sickening crunch that followed. '' Wh, what the #$ was that!'' Butch sputtered.

Terry opened his eyes to find Arman's body on the floor, his skull crushed like an egg. Blood and other gore was leaking out onto the floor.

Slate was wearing a look of fury on his face. He looked far angrier than Terry had ever seen him before. Butch looked bewildered, while Karla, who was still on the steps because there was no more room in the office, looked sick.

Lloyd dropped the bloodied murder weapon and turned around, a cold look in his eyes and a sneer on his lips. '' What was this?'' he repeated. '' This was execution for conspiracy and treason.''

'' What do you mean?'' Karla asked.

Lloyd chucked to himself. '' You thought that I was another vagabond, didn't you? If only you knew… the truth!''

'' What do you mean by that Lloyd? If that's even your real name!'' Butch shot.

'' Yes, Lloyd is my real name.'' he answered. '' But I'm not some vagabond, I'm actually… Lloyd Alva!''

Slate's look of fury changed to one of complete surprise. '' Lloyd… Alva… Why?''

'' Huh? Why do you look surprised?'' Terry asked.

'' You remember, right?'' Slate began. '' Franklin Alva was the head of T-Corp. However, he died five years ago. Afterwards, I heard that his children, Lloyd and Kassandra, took over, but I've never actually seen them before! I wrote off his name as a coincidence, as I had no reason to suspect him back when I interrogated him.''

'' So, everything you told us, including growing up in San Diego was a lie?'' Butch growled. '' Crap! I knew that there was something wrong with you the moment we met in that bar!''

'' But why would the head of T-Corp come all the way out here?'' Terry asked.

'' It has to do with Arman over there.'' Lloyd said, glancing at the stiffening corpse. '' You see, three months ago, he stopped sending us his monthly report, then, viruses began to appear. I simply put two and two together.''

'' But if you already knew that Arman was responsible, then why did you have to come to us?'' Karla asked.

'' I suspected that the viruses were being broadcast by satellite, for the attacks always started at transceivers.'' Lloyd began. '' But I wanted to verify it, and if I started to delve into records at work, people would start spreading rumors, I'm very conscience of my image at work. So I claimed that I was ill and went undercover as a rebel.''

'' It was a matter of pride?'' Slate said, sounding bewildered. '' That does not make any sense at all. Anyway, how do Chirol and Kurohige fit into all of this?''

'' That incident with the metools gave me all the confirmation I needed, and I was now finished with you.'' Lloyd explained. '' So I tipped off the Enforcers, and they were sent. Obviously, they failed to beat you at the dock. Afterwards, they kept bugging me about giving them a second chance. I told them to take it up with my sister, and they did. I guess she humored them. Hmph, she's too soft… Anyway, another reason for destroying you was that you've caused us quite some trouble recently. Namely, destroying the Dimensional Chip Factory!''

'' Oh?'' Karla objected. '' Ace gave us the impression that you didn't care about the factory!''

'' We didn't care about the chips, true.'' Lloyd admitted. '' But we did care about all that money that was used to fund it.''

He took a step back, so that he was standing behind Arman's desk. '' Do you know what I'm going to do now? I'm going to delete your navis, trap you down here, and then head to Ironsould to have Dullaq come up here and arrest you!''

'' I highly doubt that.'' Slate said. '' You're outnumbered, in the middle of nowhere, and we've already defeated Ryn.

Lloyd laughed. '' Just as I am not the man you knew, Ryn is not the navi you knew!''

'' What are you saying!'' Slate demanded.

'' I've simply installed a copy program into my PET.'' Lloyd explained. '' It allows me to alter my navi's physical appearance. The rest is just simple acting.'' He hit a command on his PET screen. '' Meet 'Ryn's' true form!''

Ryn began to glow, and he tossed Zero aside. Zero flipped to his feet, ready for another fight. '' His power level… It just went through the roof!''

Ryn's form began to change, and when the glow faded, he had completely changed.

'Ryn' was now taller, and had no helmet. His hair was sleek and orange, as were his eyes. His gloves, boots, and body suit were white, while his sleeves and neck were black. There were orange jewels set into his boots and gloves, and there were orange stripes on his legs. He was wearing a vest similar to Zero's, except his was white, had an orange collar, and was open as opposed to Zero's closed one.

'' R-Ryn?'' Tyria said nervously.

'' Ryn?'' the navi repeated in a clear, precise voice. '' No you fools, I am Solinar.exe.''

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Lloyd's true identity has been revealed! Shock shock!

Poor Crushman, this is the second time in a row that he's been beaten during the finale. At least he wasn't deleted this time.

Kuso is Japanese for _shit_! Netto says this a lot in the anime.

Those enhanced Swordys were actually Bladia viruses. They were minibosses during Liberation Missions in EXE5. They were quite annoying, as they stayed in the back row and their attacks hit one column and cracked it as well.


	17. Chapter 17

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Chapter 17: Might of the Sun

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Solinar smiled to himself, obviously enjoying the effect his appearance was having on the other navis.

'' I can feel it…'' Zero muttered. '' He has more energy and strength than any other navi we've fought before…''

Solinar chuckled. '' Thank you for your compliment. You should feel honored to be deleted by the strongest navi in T-Corp!''

He morphed his right forearm into a white cannon like blaster. '' Sol Blast!''

Solinar fired a fireball from it, forcing the other three navis to scatter as it exploded where they had just been standing. Dash quickly morphed his hand into a buster and fired a series of shots at the larger navi, but Solinar didn't even flinch. In fact, he showed no signs of damage at all.

Terry selected a chip. '' Burn Square! Slot in!''

Flames leapt up around Solinar's feet, but it had just as much effect as the buster had: nothing. '' I don't get it!'' Dash said in frustration. '' Why aren't you taking damage?''

Solinar idly brushed some of his hair out of his face with his free hand. '' I am aligned with the element of flame, so of course a fire chip does not harm me.'' he explained. '' As for your buster, that peashooter can't harm anything but the weakest virus!''

Terry remembered Pyroman. '' You know what?'' He selected an Aqua Tower. '' I really hate fire navis!''

Dash put his hand to the ground, and a geyser of water leapt up and began to move towards Solinar. He raised his cannon again and fired another shot. When it hit the water, the water instantly evaporated into steam. '' Weak!'' he taunted.

Slate frowned. '' Individual attacks aren't working, so let's try attacking him all at once!'' He selected a Variable Sword, while Terry inserted a Big Bomb and Karla chose a Super Vulcan.

Zero's hand morphed into a Variable Sword while a red bomb appeared in Dash's hand and Tyria's was replaced by a golden Vulcan.

Zero unleashed several sonic booms while Dash threw his bomb and Tyria began firing her Vulcan. The Big Bomb created a large explosion, so it was impossible to tell if Solinar had been damaged until it cleared. They shouldn't of bothered attacking at all, for when the smoke did clear, Solinar was still unharmed. '' Pathetic.'' he said disdainfully. '' You call this power!''

'' Hmph. Impressive.'' Slate reluctantly said to Lloyd. '' Your navi is very powerful. Most other navis would've logged out by now.''

'' Why thank you.'' Lloyd said smugly. '' It took me a long time to customize him to my exact preferences. He has high attack, defense, and speed.''

'' Speed?'' Terry said incredulously. '' He's just stood there and let us attack!''

'' Fine then, don't blame me for what's about to happen.'' Lloyd said. '' Solinar, attack!''

Solinar morphed his cannon into a long orange sword. With a burst of speed, he was suddenly right next to Zero and brought down his sword. Zero held his saber out in an attempt to block, but his saber was nearly torn from his grasp by the force of Solinar's downward cut.

Zero jumped back a bit and fired off a Saberwave, but Solinar weathered this attack as well. He jumped back as well, then raised his arms. '' Prominence!'' he shouted.

A column of flame and magma burst out of the ground, flew high into the air, and then arched back down towards the ground. Dash and Tyria dove away as the flame pillar landed where they had just been, leaving a scorched crater and burning embers.

'' Tyria!'' Dash said. '' Why don't we try to attack him with the same chip at the same time?''

'' But he'll just dodge it.'' Tyria pointed out.

'' Not if we attack with a melee chip.'' Dash answered. '' He can't dodge two physical attacks at the same time!''

'' If you think so… then let's try it!'' Terry said, taking out a chip. Karla selected an identical chip. '' Long Sword, slot in!'' they shouted in unison.

Solinar turned to see the two bringing their swords down on him. As expected, he raised his own sword to block Dash's attack, but he blocked Tyria's attack with his gauntlet!

'' How?'' Terry exclaimed. '' He blocked both of them!''

Solinar forcefully thrust his arms upward, sending the two navis flying. Dash slammed roughly to the ground, and then used his Long Sword to haul himself up.

_Metool…_

He turned to see a red Metool standing nearby. It was staring at his sword and was emitting a growling sound. Judging from the scorch mark on it's helmet, it was the same one that Tyria had tried to blast.

'' Oh, you're afraid of this?'' Dash asked, morphing his sword back into a hand. Then he spread out his empty palms. '' See, I'm not going to hurt you.''

The Metool slowly stopped growling and the look in it's eyes changed from determined and steadfast to a look of curiosity.

Dash got an idea. '' Hey, can you do something for me?''

_Metool?_

Dash glanced over his shoulder. Solinar and Zero had gotten into a sword duel. Solinar was clearly winning as Zero was merely trying to block the blows, and wasn't putting up much of a fight. '' Can you attack that white navi for me?''

_Meee…_

'' Oh don't worry. If he attacks you, just use your guard ability.''

The Metool pondered over this and then leapt into the air. _Metool!_

'' You'll do it?'' Dash asked happily. '' Great!''

Meanwhile, Zero's fight wasn't going very well. It took all of his energy just to block Solinar's powerful attacks. Solinar himself didn't seem to run out of energy at all.

'' Ha ha ha!'' he laughed. '' Is this it? I expected far more from the famous Zero.exe!''

Zero gritted his teeth. '' Curse you…''

'' Go Met, attack!''

Dash stood pointing at Solinar, while the Metool stood at his feet. It drove its pickax into the ground, unleashing the energy wave.

'' What the… wargh!'' Solinar cried as the wave swept over him. He whirled around to face the Metool, his cannon ready and a look of fury on his face. '' Why you! Sol Blast!''

Dash leapt forward out of the way, snatching the Metool in his arms, as a fireball hit where he had just been. Slate took advantage to this to execute another move.

'' Sword, slot in!''

Zero's saber vanished and his right arm morphed into a Sword.

'' Wide Sword!''

Zero's left hand morphed into a Wide Sword.

'' Long Sword!''

The swords began to glow as Zero raised them over his head. They merged together to form a giant energy sword.

'' Dream Sword!''

He brought the thing down right on top of Solinar.

When all of the energy dissipated, Solinar was still there, but looked like he had finally taken damage. He was panting slightly, and pixels were lazily floating around him.

'' Wow…'' Tyria said, slightly impressed. '' He took a program advance head on, and he's still standing…''

'' You… rebel… scum…'' Solinar muttered as he slowly straightened. '' I'm going to delete you all here and now!''

He morphed his arms together to form a larger and nastier looking cannon. '' Rosetta Flare!''

'' No!'' Lloyd shouted. '' I'm not going to take anymore chances! Plug out!''

'' You got lucky today rebels.'' Solinar growled as his data morphed into the words PLUG OUT.

Slate looked at Lloyd sternly. '' Give up.'' he said. '' You have nowhere to run.''

'' And what will you do with me?'' Lloyd asked. '' You don't know, do you? Well that's okay, for I have no intentions on being captured!''

He vaulted over Arman's desk and ran past Slate, Terry, and Butch before they could do anything. The only other person in his way was Karla, whom he roughly shoved off of the stairs and onto the floor below.

Butch, Terry, and Slate hurried after him. Lloyd made a break for the door, but Terry managed to intercept him and slug him hard in the stomach. Lloyd staggered, wheezing, then shoved Terry back into the door. Terry cried out as his head hit the metal surface.

Lloyd turned to find Slate right behind him, and received a straight to the face for his trouble. He put his hand to his face, and when he pulled in back he found several red drops of blood on it.

He next tried to attack Slate. He ducked down low in an attempt to avoid another punch, but Slate brought his elbow down on his head, stunning him, then grabbed the back of his neck and applied the appropriate amount of pressure, dropping him with ease.

'' Hey, I'm back!'' Vick called as he re entered the room, carrying with him what looked like the entire contents of a filing cabinet under his arms. He stopped, taking in the scene in front of him. '' Uh, guys…'' he began, looking unnerved. '' What happened here?''

'' Lloyd was really one of the heads of T-Corp.'' Terry explained, his head throbbing. He hoped that he didn't have a concussion. '' He killed Arman and tried to escape, and Ryn was really a navi named Solinar. He was pretty powerful too…''

Vick scowled. '' So we attracted the attention of the administration…'' He put the papers down on the floor. '' By the way…'' he added. '' What's Karla doing over there?''

They had forgotten about her. She was sitting against the staircase, clutching her arm. Just below the elbow there was a nasty looking black bruise.

'' What's wrong?'' Slate asked, concerned.

'' I-It's my arm.'' Karla grimaced. '' I landed on it funny when Lloyd pushed me. I, I think it's broken.''

'' Everything is going to Hell!'' Slate spat. '' Butch, find something that we can use to bind Lloyd with, and something that we can use to make a makeshift sling.''

Butch left. Slate walked over to the unconscious Lloyd and took out his PET, and then handed it over to Vick. Vick opened up the back and yanked out the rechargeable battery. '' Now he won't be able to use his PET until the battery is replaced.''

He then turned to Terry. '' All of those documents I found are on that venom project Arman mentioned. When we get back to HQ, I'll see if it says anything about curing it. I can also probably calibrate our scanner to pick up the venom.''

'' Thanks.'' Terry said. '' I hope we can end this nightmare.''

'' I hope so too.'' Vick agreed.

'' Are my pupils dilated by the way?'' Terry added.

'' No.''

'' Good.'' Terry said. He would probably have a splitting headache the next day though.

Butch returned a few minutes later. For the sling, it appeared that he had torn apart a bed sheet. For the binding, he had found a large amount of duct tape.

While Slate fixed Karla's arm, Vick and Terry worked on Lloyd. When they were down, he was wrapped in a virtual cocoon of tape from the shoulders down. '' There, let's see him get out of that.'' Vick said, satisfied.

'' Never really did like him anyway.'' Terry nodded, slapping another piece over Lloyd's mouth for good measure.

In the cyber world of the now disabled virus controller, the navis were standing in front of the Metool. '' I think it's safe to let him go.'' Tyria was saying. '' Without Arman's influence, he's harmless.''

Zero looked down at it with his arms crossed. '' Hmph. You better be right about this…''

Dash bent down to the Metool's level. '' Hear that? You're free to go. Just, don't cause any trouble, okay?''

The Metool's eyes adopted a happy look. _Metool!_, it said joyfully, leaping into the air. In midair, it turned into a mass of pixels and vanished.

'' You know,'' Dash said, straightening up. '' I think that we've got a reformed virus.''

'' It seems highly improbable.'' Beta, who had joined the others, said. '' But it looks like viruses aren't inherently evil, there can be good ones too. Fascinating…''

'' Yep.'' Dash agreed. His navi symbol then began to glow purple. '' What the… AHHHGGG!''

'' DASH!'' Terry screamed. '' What's happening!''

'' There- there's something…'' Dash groaned, clutching his head. '' Something is trying to… Argh! Something is trying to take over my body!''

He began to scream again, and fell to his knees, still clutching his head. Zero, Tyria and Beta stood around him, helpless.

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What will the rebels do now? Find out in the second to last chapter! (AKA, the next one.)

By this point, it's real obvious, but Solinar is a reference to the sun, as Lunare is a reference to the moon. **Sol**inar, **Luna**re. Sol, Luna. Sun, Moon. Fire, Water. Get it?

They're both pretty powerful as well. No where near as strong as Slur was, but as far as terrestrial navis go, they're very, very tough.

Dilated pupils are one of the symptoms of a concussion.


	18. Chapter 18

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Chapter 18: Unknown Ground

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A depressing mood hung over HQ, like a rain shower that simply refused to move on. One day had passed since the six rebels had visited Arman's lab. Now, there were only five, and the psyche of one of them was in pain.

They had left Lloyd in Arman's lab, bound and gagged, and Slate had shutdown the transceivers and all of the other machinery. The viruses had been deleted, and the threat of another Outbreak was gone. They had traveled back down to Ironsould and had taken Kurogane's return train back. Kurogane and Chargeman had obviously wanted to ask them what had happened, but hadn't out of respect.

Dash had been heavily sedated in case he had another attack. Vick, with help from the files he had retrieved and a few spare parts, had upgraded the scanner so that it could now track the progress of the infection. The results were not very encouraging. Most of the display was purple, indicating that Dash was perilously close to being completely taken over. Terry was obviously suffering on the inside. He had built Dash himself so long ago, and they had been through plenty of trouble together. But now, they were helpless. Currently, the rebels were trying to come up with a plan.

'' Why don't we just delete him, then activate his back up data?'' Butch suggested.

'' No,'' Terry said, slowly shaking his head. '' That won't work. The last back up I made was before we went to Densan, when Dash was still infected, so the back ups will be contaminated as well.''

Vaccines had already been ruled out, and the rebels were beginning to run out of ideas.

'' Wait.'' Terry said suddenly. '' Arman said that a navi can eradicate the venom itself, right?''

'' Yes… He did.'' Slate answered.

'' Dash's main program is still operational, but its signals are very weak.'' Vick told them. '' It looks like he's… given up…''

'' He needs me… I need to be there…'' Terry said to himself. '' Wait! I've got it! I can use the Pulse Transmission System!''

Slate raised an eyebrow. '' What do you mean?''

'' Alright, the system converts brain waves to data, correct?'' Terry began.

'' Riiight…'' Karla answered. Her arm was now in a more durable sling, and was bandaged as well.

'' So, couldn't I merge my data with his?''

'' How would that help?'' Butch asked.

'' Dash has always been there for me, and now it's my turn to be there for him.'' Terry said. '' Vick has come to the conclusion that he has given up, if I can encourage him, awaken his true self, he could find the strength to eradicate the venom himself, just like Arman said.''

'' Do you have any idea how dangerous that could be!'' Slate said hurriedly, looking surprised. '' Lloyd said that that technology was experimental! A million things could go wrong! There could be some kind of malfunction, and you could die! Or you could be stuck in the cyberworld forever! There would be nothing we could do to bring you back. You see, even though we created it, to us humans, cyberworld is still unknown ground.''

'' But… I'm willing to do anything!'' Terry cried. '' I owe Dash that much…''

Slate sighed and slumped back in his chair. '' Okay. You win. We'll try to assemble the Pulse Transmission System as quickly as we can.''

Terry gave a weak smile. '' Thank you… Akira.''

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It had been a good day for Kassandra Alva. The weather was beautiful, virus activity was finally down, and one of her more annoying suitors had finally given up. Everything was falling into place.

Currently, she was walking in the Technology Tower's Atrium. It was separate from the government offices and facilities. This place was open to the public, and while it lacked retail stores, which wasn't a bad thing, it had many well renowned, if expensive, restaurants. Sunlight poured in from a massive overhead skylight, while a large fountain was located in the Atrium's center.

'' It's not often that you come down here.'' Lunare remarked from her PET, which was clipped to Kassandra's belt at her hip.

She sat down at the edge of the fountain. '' No, but I'm feeling pretty good today. I shouldn't spend all of my free time up in my office.''

'' Besides,'' she said, unclipping her PET. '' It'll give the media something to talk about.''

'' If you say so Kassy.'' Lunare replied. Her operator could be a little… odd. Sometimes she was dead serious, but other times she could be mischievous.

The crowd continued on its way, but people slowly began to notice that Kassandra, one of the most powerful people on the planet, was right there, in plain view. Some people openly gawked, some pointed at her, and others gave her odd looks. One person was shouting to her. '' Ms. Alva! Ms. Alva!'' It was Yamoto again.

He made his way through the crowd and walked up to where she was sitting. '' I received a message from Lieutenant Dullaq just now.'' he said, getting right to business. '' I'm sure that you would like to hear it.''

'' What is it?''

'' Well, apparently there was a 'dirty, bloodshot, and belligerent' man claiming that he was Lloyd Alva, demanding that they let him into headquarters. He was sent away.''

Kassandra tried to suppress her laughter. '' Why didn't he use his PET?''

'' Well,'' Yamoto began. '' he said that they had removed the battery.''

'' I can't believe that those rebels were too much for him!'' Kassandra said, laughing. '' Well, at least they solved the virus problem.''

'' What are we going to do?'' Yamoto asked.

'' Oh, I'll just let him come back on his own. It'll humble him.''

'' If you say so ma'am.'' Yamoto said. '' If you would please excuse me, I must return to my work. Good day.''

'' Are you sure that was the right thing to do?'' Lunare asked after he had left.

'' Lloyd is too comfortable in his power.'' Kassandra answered. '' This will be a lesson in humility. After all, isn't it the duty of siblings to look after each other?''

Lunare sighed. '' I think you just want to have a laugh at his expense…''

'' Not so.'' Kassandra said, smiling. '' Come on. We should get going.''

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It took a week to assemble the Transmission System. It looked like a large metal chair. There was a cap with wiring connected to it above the seat, and a slot for a PET in one of the armrests, but they weren't going to be using Terry's PET. The machine was linked to a computer that Dash, still sedated, was inside. This device was a monster when it came to power consumption, as when the rebels had initially activated it, HQ's lights had dimmed quite a bit. It had been difficult putting it together, even though there had been practically a novel on how the machine worked. The instructions, while invaluable, were often very confusing due to their complexity. But they had managed to complete it in the end.

'' Are you sure about this?'' Butch asked. The only other sound was of rain pattering against windows.

'' Yes. I am.'' Terry said resolutely. He walked up to the chair and pulled himself up into it. '' Kinda big…''

'' You do understand, don't you, that once you're in the cyberworld that we can't help you in anyway.'' Vick cautioned. '' You'll be on your own.''

'' I know.'' Terry said, pulling the cap onto his head. '' But this is the only way I can save Dash.''

Vick sighed. '' Okay, I'm activating it. In about a minute or so, you'll be gone.''

Butch stepped forward. '' I hope you know what you're going kid. For your own sake.''

Vick made a small adjustment on the control panel. '' All I can say is… Good luck.''

Karla, who looked the most anxious out of the four, said: '' Please… Be safe Terry. I wish that I could say more… but… Just come back in one piece… I… I –''

Slate cut her off. '' Jya na.'' was all he said.

'' Thanks everyone.'' Terry said, starting to fell nervous himself.

Then everything went black.

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When consciousness returned, Terry found himself looking not at the interior of HQ, but the circuitry and expanse of the computer the system had been hooked up to.

He looked down at his hands, which looked normal enough. His feet were there too, as were his clothes. He silently thanked whoever had designed the Pulse Transmission System for that, as it would not have been pleasant if the others, who were undoubtably looking at him through the computer's moniter, had seen him completely naked.

'' This is so weird.'' he said to himself.

'' It's even weirder out here.'' a familiar voice said.

Terry turned and saw a viewscreen displaying the realworld. His friends were clustered near the moniter, looking at him. '' Hey everyone!'' Terry said, waving. '' It worked! I'm in the cyberworld!''

'' That's what I don't understand.'' Butch said, frowning. '' That it actually worked.''

'' This is sooo bizarre.'' Karla said. '' Your body is here, yet we're talking to you from the computer…''

'' By the way, how exactly do you plan on transferring yourself?'' Vick asked.

'' In the cyberworld, I'm no longer a human.'' Terry explained. '' Just a simple program. Transferring myself should be second nature to me now.''

He saw Dash and walked over to him. Dash was lying face up on the floor of the cyberworld, and he appeared to be asleep. Terry bent down to him, a look of pity in his eyes. '' Don't worry.'' he said. '' I'm going to help you.''

He reached down and placed his hand on Dash's navi symbol. _I hope that this works._ he thought to himself.

For the second time in several minutes, everything went black.

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Remember the Pulse Transmission System they found in chapter 7? That wasn't a loose end.

One more chapter left.


	19. Chapter 19

Something that I forgot to mention: Jya na means 'see you.'

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Chapter 19: Two Souls, One Bond

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Terry found himself in a large, empty area. The floor was silver and seemed to extend infinitely in all directions. The ceiling overhead was a depressing gray color.

'' Where am I?'' he wondered aloud. '' Am I… inside Dash?''

Or maybe something had gone wrong, and he was now in limbo forever! '' No no no! I mustn't freak myself out here.'' he said to himself. '' Okay, what should I do next?''

Yeah, what was he going to do? So far, his plan had worked, but now he was at a loss. He was intending to encourage Dash, but he really had no idea how he was going to go about doing it. He sighed, and then sat down on the floor, trying to think up a plan.

'' Terry, what are you doing here?''

Terry jolted and jumped up to see Dash standing near him. But this wasn't the same Dash that was currently sedated. This Dash was the old one; his eyes were their natural dark blue color, and, distressingly, he looked slightly fuzzy, as if he was about to fade away.

'' I came here with the Pulse Transmission System.'' Terry said, a little amazed that he was speaking face to face with his navi.

'' Oh, that…'' Dash said in response, but he said it flatly, with little emotion.

'' Dash…'' Terry began. '' What exactly are you? I know that you're my navi, but what exactly am I talking to?''

Dash sighed. '' I guess you could say that I'm the physical manifestation of Dash.EXE.''

'' Okay, but where am I?''

'' You're inside me Terry.'' Dash replied, still devoid of emotion. It sounded like he was disinterested in the whole thing. '' This is the one place that isn't infected by the venom, the one place that's safe…''

'' Dash, why have you given up?'' Terry asked, getting straight to the point. '' Arman said that a navi can eradicate the venom themselves, but you're not doing crap!''

Dash looked down. '' I can't… I'm too weak…'' The next thing he felt was a blow to the side of his face.

'' T-Terry…'' he said, sounding surprised as the pink mark on his cheek faded.

Terry was looking angry, had his fists clenched, and was breathing heavily. '' Weak!'' he shouted. '' That's a damn lie and you know it!''

'' But…''

'' Who was it who fought Blues to the last of his strength!'' Terry demanded. Dash said nothing.

'' And who helped fight off all of those fire viruses!'' Dash remained silent.

'' Who fought Pyroman, even though he had been powered up with the Extra Code!''

'' I- I did…'' Dash said at last.

'' And who was it who avenged Saito's murder! Hm? Who was it!''

'' It… was I…'' Dash said.

'' See, you're not weak, you're strong!''

'' I, I guess you're right.'' Dash finally admitted, his outline becoming slightly more solid.

'' Accept the truth.'' Terry said, pleased. '' Or I'm gonna punch you again!''

'' That won't be necessary.'' Dash said, grinning sheepishly. '' I was just afraid… So afraid that I kept retreating… When I could've been fighting.''

'' Now that you've come around…'' Terry said. '' How should we go about this eradicating?''

'' I could bring my anti virus features to maximum.'' Dash suggested.

'' No, I think what Arman meant was more along the line of a contest of wills, rather than diagnostics.'' Terry explained.

'' I have to _think_ about eradicating?'' Dash said, sounding dubious.

'' Well, you did say that you are the incarnation of Dash.EXE, that has to mean something.''

'' Then that would make me the incarnation of the venom.'' a slightly raspy voice said.

'' What the devil are you?'' Terry shouted, for a new figure appeared before his eyes. That figure was… Dash. Or rather, a feral looking navi that vaguely resembled him. It's eyes were violet and narrow, the white arrow shape on the front of the helmet had been replaced by a red jewel, it's boots were protected by armor that extended up to the knee, and was segmented, so that it resembled chitin more than armor. A small ridge of spikes protruded from the white shoulder pads, and in the center of it's chest was Dash's navi symbol, a white equilateral triangle against a black background.

'' I told you, I am the incarnation of the venom, just as he is the incarnation of his main program.'' the virus-navi said. '' You can call me Dream Dash.'' (AN: I'm just going to call him Dream.)

'' Dream Dash?''

'' I am what you will become once I delete you.''

'' What do you mean?'' Dash demanded.

Dream smirked. '' You are all that's left of the original. Once you are gone, I can completely take over!''

His purple eyes rested on Terry. '' And you… Once I delete you here, your body will die in the real world.''

'' Wait… what?'' Terry said anxiously.

'' You remember how the Pulse Transmission System works, don't you?'' Dream taunted. '' Everything you experience here is sent to your physical brain. So if I delete you here, your brain, thinking it has died, will shut itself down. If your brain isn't working, your brainstem isn't working. If your brainstem isn't working, your heart will stop beating.''

'' No! I won't let you harm him!'' Dash shouted, morphing his hand into a buster.

Dream laughed. '' You needed your operator around just to have the will to fight! There is no way a wimp like you can win!''

'' You're wrong.'' Dash said, his outline becoming even more solid. '' Not only am I fighting for my survival, but for my operator as well, the person who means the most to me in this world.''

'' Oh how cute.'' Dream said, wrinkling his nose in disgust. '' You're motivated by _love_. How disgusting.'' He morphed his hand into a long, pale green sword.

'' Terry, get back.'' Dash told his operator. '' He's right. If you're deleted here, your body will die.'' His eyes shone with concern.

Terry started to protest, then stopped. '' You're right… If this was the real world… But it's not… Just… don't lose…''

Dash smiled. '' I won't. I have a strong reason to fight, unlike that freak.''

'' That is where you are wrong.'' Dream countered. '' We are fighting for the exact same reason. Survival. My program dictates survival. I infiltrate a navi, integrate myself with it… until I completely take control. The infection is then spread to other navis, and the cycle repeats itself.''

'' That's just…'' Dash began. '' Feral instinct!'' he shouted, firing a buster shot.

Dream leapt over it, Dash, and landed in front of Terry. Terry jumped in alarm and started to back up, but Dream raised his sword. '' Goodbye human.''

But as he brought the blade down, it shattered into pieces. '' What!'' Dream cried. '' How could that happen?''

'' You forget.'' Dash said, turning around. '' That you're inside me. You're in the heart of my power! And… you tried to kill my operator, something that is unforgivable!'' He began to charge his buster.

Dream tried to leapt out of range, but found that he could not move. '' How!'' he cried. '' How are you doing this!''

'' I told you, you're inside me. A grave mistake on your part, virus!'' Dash said, narrowing his eyes. '' You're basically at my mercy. And when you, the source, are gone, so to will be the infection!''

'' N-Noooooo!'' Dream wailed. '' This is impossible! Absolutely impossible!''

'' Oh shut up already.'' Terry said.

'' Yeah, what he said!'' Dash said, releasing his charge shot.

Dream wailed as the plasma blast hit him, causing him to vanish in an explosion. When it faded, all that was left were a few mere pixels that slowly faded away.

Dash sighed. '' It's over… finally.''

'' Alright!'' Terry cried jubilantly. '' You did it! Now that the source is gone, the rest of the infected areas will be purified!''

'' Yes.'' Dash agreed. '' It was all thanks to you, Terry.''

'' Aw, come on, you had to save me!'' Terry smiled.

'' No. You opened my eyes, you saved me.'' Dash told him.

'' Nah, it was our bond, our understanding of one another.'' Terry corrected.

Dash agreed to this. '' Yes, it was our love.''

Terry nodded, then said, '' Well, I'd better log out, or everyone will be worried.''

'' Will we ever be able to talk like this again?'' Dash asked.

'' I dunno.'' Terry said. '' To be honest though, I think a human's place is in the real world, operating a navi, rather in the cyber world. Maybe one day… we will… Whether it be in real life, or just a dream, we will, someday.''

'' Farewell Dash.'' he said finally, slowly fading away, leaving Dash along.

Dash smiled. '' Someday…''

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There you have it, the end of the story. I was more focused on the aspects of the navi-human relationship, rather than fighting. I just hope people don't think that this was a Dark Blues rip off.

To everyone who read this story, I thank you. Knowing that people enjoyed this is a wonderful feeling

**jhvh777: **I'm glad that you asked that, for I have one final story planned: **The Lone Eden.** If the theme of The Link Between the Past and Present was '' lessons from the past'', and the one of Viral Nightmare was '' operator and navi'', then the theme of the next story will be, oh, '' relationships with friends and family.''

But, sadly, you won't be seeing it posted for a while, for while I do have the first few chapters written, I'll be out of state on vacation for the next two weeks, and school starts afterwards. I will, however leave you with a small preview:

**The Lone Eden: **The rebels travel to an island nation to take part in an ambitious project. But getting there is only half the fun! They're going to have to deal with weird dreams, angry samurai, aerial battles, street urchins, the cyberworld's underworld, one scheming brunette (Kassandra), one _really_ pissed off blond ( Lloyd), and unexpected revelations and developments!

I'll see you then.


End file.
